UNRWA Chief: ‘Israel’ Using Food as Weapon of War in Gaza, Warns of War Crime
The Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, has accused the zionist entity of deliberately using food and humanitarian aid as a weapon of war in the Gaza Strip—a practice he described as a “war crime.”
In a statement released Tuesday on UNRWA’s official website, Lazzarini asserted that the actions witnessed over the past 19 months, and particularly in the last two, point to the intentional use of aid denial to achieve political or military objectives. While final legal determination rests with international courts, he said, the facts on the ground show a clear, inhumane use of starvation as a method of warfare.
Lazzarini expressed deep alarm over the humanitarian situation, stating that suffering in Gaza has reached “indescribable levels,” and that even after witnessing numerous crises in his career, he found himself without words to describe the current misery. With over two months passing without humanitarian aid entering Gaza, he warned that civilians may soon die not from airstrikes, but from hunger.
Citing the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) and other international assessments, Lazzarini emphasized that Gaza is on the brink of famine, with more than two million people—including nearly one million children—facing extreme food insecurity under the Zionist-imposed blockade. He called on the international community to act urgently to ensure the immediate delivery of aid, warning that inaction will lead to an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.
