Algeria has requested consultations at the United Nations Security Council on January 17 regarding the dire situation faced by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in the occupied Palestinian territories.
In light of the critical crisis confronting UNRWA in these regions, Algeria has called for a closed-door meeting at the Security Council, scheduled for January 17, 2025, at 10:00 AM.
Algeria has also urged UNRWA’s Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, to provide a briefing to Council members.
Lazzarini emphasized that the genocidal war of occupation has transformed Gaza into “a cemetery for tens of thousands of Palestinians,” devastating basic infrastructure to catastrophic levels. He highlighted the daily suffering endured by families in Gaza, where forced displacement, illness, hunger, and death have become the “daily norm for two million people trapped in a ravaged enclave.”
He noted that the destruction caused by the occupying forces is “unprecedented” and that dismantling UNRWA has become a goal of the Zionist occupation. He stressed that efforts should focus on reaching an agreement to end the aggression against Gaza, rather than on prohibiting the agency or seeking alternative solutions.
Regarding acute malnutrition levels in Gaza, Lazzarini reported that they are ten times higher than before the recent conflict. He added that in Gaza, “80% of families have at least one child who does not receive food, while over 96% of children do not receive adequate nutrition.”
He indicated that the Zionist entity has targeted and destroyed 70% of UNRWA schools that housed forcibly displaced Palestinian families (over 130,000), leaving more than 600,000 children with profound psychological trauma, living amid the rubble, and still deprived of education, half of whom previously attended UNRWA schools.
The UNRWA Commissioner-General warned that “each day without a ceasefire in Gaza will bring further tragedies,” highlighting that “children in Gaza are dying from the cold and lack of shelter, while winter supplies have been blocked for months.”
Established by the UN General Assembly in 1949, UNRWA is a humanitarian and development agency that supports, protects, and defends approximately 5.6 million registered Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank, and Gaza until their suffering comes to an end.
UNRWA relies on voluntary contributions from UN member states.
Since October 7, 2023, the Zionist entity has continued its brutal aggression against Palestinians in Gaza through land, sea, and air, disregarding the UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate end to hostilities and the orders of the International Court of Justice to take measures to prevent genocide and mitigate the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Algeria is presiding over the Security Council for the month of January.
