Much of Gaza has been destroyed in the conflict. UNRWA continues to provide aid in Gaza, as destruction mounts in the West Bank Humanitarian Aid
Some 30,000 residents of the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank have fled their homes after Israeli security forces destroyed large parts of the camp in a series of controlled explosions, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said on Tuesday.
Situation in Jenin camp
UNRWA Director of Communications Juliette Touma described the catastrophic situation in the camp, where some 100 buildings were “destroyed or severely damaged” by explosions over the weekend.
She said Jenin residents had “lived the impossible” after nearly two months of “continuous and escalating violence” linked to the Israeli military operation.
“Sunday’s explosion occurred when the children were about to leave for school,” Tuma explained, adding that 13 UNRWA schools in and around the camp remain closed, depriving 5,000 children of the opportunity to study.
Israeli ban on UNRWA
UNRWA is facing unprecedented difficulties in its operations after the Israeli parliament passed two laws last October banning its activities in Israel. Under the new rules, Israeli authorities are not allowed to have contact with the agency. The Knesset laws came into force last Thursday.
However, as Tuma noted, the Israeli government has not yet “informed UNRWA how it intends to implement” the new laws. The agency’s teams continue to operate and provide support to the population in the West Bank and Gaza, including primary health care and education.
“Schools and clinics remain open, including in occupied East Jerusalem, providing services to refugees,” an UNRWA spokeswoman said. “We see that UNRWA school attendance is over 80-85 percent,” she added.
Tuma also reported a “steady increase” in the number of patients visiting UNRWA health centers in the West Bank, with one clinic in East Jerusalem registering more than 400 patients a day.
Humanitarian needs in Gaza are enormous, particularly in the north, Tuma said, and the priority for UNRWA teams is to distribute supplies that have entered the enclave since the ceasefire went into effect on January 19.
Hundreds more trucks from Egypt and Jordan are expected to arrive in Gaza this week.
Aid delivery amid truce
The temporary truce between Israel and Hamas comes after more than 15 months of war that has killed some 46,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities. The conflict was triggered by Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 250 were taken hostage.
Tuma stressed that UNRWA teams have distributed about 60 percent of all supplies that have entered Gaza since the beginning of the ceasefire, and that most of them are distributed by her agency, which employs more than 5,000 people. A fifth of them are health workers, Tuma added, highlighting UNRWA’s important role as the main provider of health services in the enclave.
Following the Knesset ban, UN Chief Antonio Guterres and the heads of many UN agencies recalled that the agency’s operations are indispensable in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Not only does the agency face challenges due to the Israeli ban, it is also threatened by a lack of funding. In particular, the United States has stopped providing funds to UNRWA as of January 2024.