2024-03-07 08:50:00
Fatih Aktas/Anadolu/Getty Images/Fatih Aktas/Anadolu/Getty Images
2024.03.07 Thu posted at 17:50 JST
(CNN) The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Director-General Lazzarini said on Tuesday that the agency was facing “financial difficulties” and was “reaching a breaking point” in continuing its relief efforts. expressed a sense of crisis.
He said this in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Regarding the lack of funds for its activities, the UNRWA government alleges that some UNRWA staff were complicit in the large-scale attack on Israel on October 7 last year by the Islamic group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian autonomous region. He noted that a total of 16 countries had stopped providing contributions.
The funds frozen by these 16 countries amounted to “approximately US$450 million,” it said. He also complained that “UNRWA does not have the ability to weather the financial blow given the unique situation in which the war continues in Gaza.”
Regarding Israel’s claims that its staff were involved in the attack, the United Nations’ audit division is still conducting an independent investigation to determine the facts.
He also emphasized that his ability to carry out his assigned responsibilities is “seriously threatened” given the current situation where management funds are at a limit. He continued that swift action is needed to encourage a political solution that brings peace to Palestinians and Israelis.
Furthermore, we urge UN Member States seeking alternative organizations to replace UNRWA to act in a manner that does not undermine the Palestinian refugees’ right to self-determination and their aspirations for a just and durable solution to the plight to which they are exposed. Ta.
Amid this, a senior UNRWA official revealed on the 5th that due to a lack of operational funds, it is unclear whether it will be able to provide food assistance to Palestinians in Gaza in the future.
Officials continue to work with dedication, distributing food to around 1.1 million people and vaccinating 80% of Gaza’s children. He stressed that although 162 of his colleagues lost their lives in the fighting in Gaza, the staff showed great resilience.
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