In an interview during a recent visit to Brussels, UNRWA Deputy Director-General Nathalie Boukry said the whole world, including the EU and the US, needs to increase pressure on the Israeli government to ensure the unrestricted flow of aid to Gaza.
UNRWA has up to 6,000 trucks worth of food, tents and other essentials, Boukri said.
“As winter approaches and hunger continues to afflict people, it is important that all this aid is received by Gaza without delay,” she said. “Our supplies… could feed the whole population for about three months. And it’s sitting outside[in Jordan and Egypt]and they can’t get in. And that applies to other UN agencies, too, because restrictions and restrictions still exist.”
She estimated that only about half of the 500 to 600 truckloads needed each day were reaching the affected areas.
Bukry said that as an occupying power, Israel “does not comply with international humanitarian law and international human rights law,” referring to the Fourth Geneva Convention and the International Court of Justice’s recent advisory opinion that says Israel must ensure the “necessities of daily life” for the people of the occupied Palestinian territories.
The same ICJ judgment, handed down on October 22, concluded that Israel has an obligation to cooperate with UNRWA. The court found no evidence that Umruwa lacked neutrality or that a significant number of its staff were members of Hamas, as repeatedly claimed by President Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
Israel severed diplomatic ties with UNRWA after accusing Hamas of infiltrating the bodies and allowing “widespread and systematic” misuse of its facilities by terrorists. The ICJ opinion noted that nine Unrwa employees were fired for their possible involvement in the October 7, 2023 attacks, but said Israel’s broader claims were not substantiated.
Boukry said he has received no indication that Israel will change its no-contact policy toward the agency.
UNRWA was created in 1948 to assist the 700,000 Palestinian refugees displaced by the war over the creation of the state of Israel. It was supposed to be temporary. Almost 80 years later, UNRWA plays a vital role in providing health, education, social welfare and other services in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and neighboring countries, where 5.9 million Palestinian refugees are registered.
“This is not the time for UNRWA to collapse,” Mr. Boukri said. “We are irreplaceable, because no one can fill our gaps.”
MNA/