UNRWA: “There is a desire to strip the Palestinians of refugee status and undermine their aspiration to self-detemination.” Lazzarini says
The Zionist occupation targets UNRWA as it perpetuates the refugee status of Palestinians and reminds the world of their right of return.
The Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA),Philippe Lazzarini, has called for an independent investigation into the deaths of approximately 220 agency employees in the Gaza Strip since October 7.
“There is a deliberate attempt to eliminate and dismantle the agency, and the reason behind that has nothing to do with neutrality issues, but there is a political purpose behind it. Ultimately, there is a desire to strip the Palestinians of refugee status and beyond that to undermine the future Palestinian aspiration for self-determination. That is why UNRWA has become such a target,” said Lazzarini in an interview with BBC Hardtalk.
It is noteworthy that the Zionist occupation has long been endeavouring to erase UNRWA as it represents “the only standing international commitment left toward the right of return of Palestinians and an embodiment of international responsibility for the question of Palestinian refugees,” said Shatha Abdulsamad, a Palestinian researcher and policy analyst, in her article on the Al-Shabaka think tank.
In an interview with UN News, UNRWA’s Senior Deputy Field Director, Sam Rose, voiced the collective concern and fear of UN staff in Gaza, as they became the Zionist occupation’s target following Wednesday’s airstrike that hit the school-turned-shelter in Nuseirat.
“One staff member told us that he didn’t feel safe wearing the UN vest anymore, so he’d taken the decision not to wear his UNRWA gilet that day… He told us that he didn’t want to wear it anymore because he felt like it made him a target.”
The airstrike on the Jaaouni UNRWA School left 18 martyrs, including six UN staff members.
The school is located in the Middle Area of the Gaza Strip and was sheltering around 12,000 displaced people.
In the West Bank, UNRWA reported on Friday the death of one of its employees during the Zionist occupation’s large-scale military escalation.
Following October 7, the Zionist occupation’s alleged accusations against UNRWA succeeded in prompting the US and other major donors to freeze their funds, paying no regard to the starvation catastrophe Gazans were already experiencing.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East was established in 1949 by the United Nations General Assembly to provide education and healthcare assistance to Palestinian refugees displaced from their homes and villages in the wake of the Zionist occupation.
