UNRWA chief: As we speak, people in Gaza are dying
World
Philippe Lazzarini Commissioner General of UNRWA (UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East), gave a press conference to talk about the situation in the Gaza Strip and the urgent need for more humanitarian aid.
"As we speak people in Gaza are dying, basic services are crumbling," he told reporters present.
Food and water are running out in the Strip, he said, and the streets have begun to "overflowing with sewage." All of this could lead to the spread of dangerous diseases, Lazzarini warned.
"A few days ago, I warned that we will not be able to continue our humanitarian operations if we do not get fuel supply. My warning still stands," he said, adding that UNRWA had "drastically limited" its fuel consumption over the past few days.
"This came at a cost. Our team had to make tough decisions that no humanitarian worker should do," the agency head said.
"Gaza is being strangled" and its residents "feel rejected, alienated and abandoned," he told the press, "It pains me that humanitarian aid, a very basic right for people, is constantly questioned while at the same time despair is live-streamed under our watch."
Lazzarini says that despite intense negotiations, only "a handful of convoys" of humanitarian aid have been allowed into the Gaza Strip. "Many of us saw in these trucks a glimmer of hope," but they were "nothing more than crumbs," he adds.
Lazzarini concludes by saying that at least 57 of his UNRWA colleagues have been killed in the Gaza Strip. Given the lack of aid, it is unclear how long UNRWA "can last," but according to the commissioner, it is "No more than a few days."
Following his press statement, Lazzarini was asked about the number of casualties in the Gaza Strip and whether the figures provided by the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Ministry of Health were credible.
He replied that in the past, the figures coming from the Gaza Strip were considered credible and "no one has ever disputed these figures."
Food and water are running out in the Strip, he said, and the streets have begun to "overflowing with sewage." All of this could lead to the spread of dangerous diseases, Lazzarini warned.
"A few days ago, I warned that we will not be able to continue our humanitarian operations if we do not get fuel supply. My warning still stands," he said, adding that UNRWA had "drastically limited" its fuel consumption over the past few days.
"This came at a cost. Our team had to make tough decisions that no humanitarian worker should do," the agency head said.
"Gaza is being strangled" and its residents "feel rejected, alienated and abandoned," he told the press, "It pains me that humanitarian aid, a very basic right for people, is constantly questioned while at the same time despair is live-streamed under our watch."
Lazzarini says that despite intense negotiations, only "a handful of convoys" of humanitarian aid have been allowed into the Gaza Strip. "Many of us saw in these trucks a glimmer of hope," but they were "nothing more than crumbs," he adds.
Lazzarini concludes by saying that at least 57 of his UNRWA colleagues have been killed in the Gaza Strip. Given the lack of aid, it is unclear how long UNRWA "can last," but according to the commissioner, it is "No more than a few days."
Following his press statement, Lazzarini was asked about the number of casualties in the Gaza Strip and whether the figures provided by the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Ministry of Health were credible.
He replied that in the past, the figures coming from the Gaza Strip were considered credible and "no one has ever disputed these figures."
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