UNRWA, the United Nations agency for “Palestinian refugees”, is nearing a critical point in its ability to continue operations in Gaza due to increasingly difficult conditions, its leader said on Wednesday. "I will not hide the fact that we might reach a point that we won't be able anymore to operate," UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini told reporters at a press conference in Berlin, as quoted by the Reuters news agency. "We are very near to a possible breaking point. When will it be? I don't know. But we are very near of that," he added. Lazzarini explained that the agency is facing a combination of financial and political challenges, alongside severe day-to-day operational difficulties. With winter approaching, he warned of a serious risk as people's immune systems weaken, making famine or acute malnutrition a real possibility. UNRWA, founded in 1949, offers education, healthcare, and other assistance to Palestinian Arab “refugees” across Gaza, Judea and Samaria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. The agency has historically had strained relations with Israel, but tensions have significantly worsened since the outbreak of the war in Gaza. UNRWA, which has long been criticized for cooperating with Hamas, has come under increased scrutiny as its workers have been found to have been directly involved in Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Israel said in January of this year that UNRWA staff participated in the October 7 Hamas attacks. It then presented a dossier showing that the UNRWA workers who participated in the Hamas massacre kidnapped a woman, handed out ammunition and actively took part in the massacre at Kibbutz Be’eri, where 97 people were murdered. Following the Israeli revelations, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced the creation of a review group, headed by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, to look into the Israeli allegations. The group released its report in April. The report found neutrality-related issues" in UNRWA but also claimed that Israel had yet to provide evidence for allegations that a significant number of its staff were members of terrorist organizations. Related articles: Mahmoud Khalil hid UNRWA ties in green card application UNRWA gear found in terrorist weapons cache in Samaria 'Mahmoud Khalil seethed with hatred for Jewish state,' ‘Not a shred of evidence’ hostages held in UN facilities Recently, however, the UN acknowledged for the first time that employees of UNRWA may have been involved in Hamas’ October 7 massacre in Israel. Lazzarini has resisted Israel’s calls for him to step down, has insisted he had no knowledge of how deep Hamas is involved in UNRWA, and has instead continued to level accusations at Israel. (Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Sukkot in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)
