The situation in the Palestinian territories continues to deteriorate, according to UN agencies. UN Security Council discusses Middle East: No end in sight to violence engulfing the region Peace and Security
A year after the horrific attack on Israel and the start of the catastrophic war in Gaza, there is no end in sight to the violence engulfing the region, the head of the UN Refugee Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said at a Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East.
A Year of Loss and Suffering
“This has been a year of loss and suffering,” said Philippe Lazzarini. “A year of dehumanization and barbarity. The captured Israeli hostages are still being held captive. Gaza has become a sea of rubble, a cemetery for tens of thousands of people, many of them children.”
Huge numbers of children are dying, being injured and becoming orphans, the head of UNRWA noted. More than 650,000 young Gazans are out of school, deeply traumatized and living in the rubble of buildings. They have already lost two years of education.
“We cannot afford to lose an entire generation of Gazans and sow the seeds of future hatred and extremism,” Philippe Lazzarini continued. “That is why UNRWA, in addition to rescue operations, has resumed some educational activities in Gaza. Every day we provide psychosocial services to thousands of children.”
UNRWA, he said, had played a vital role in the emergency vaccination campaign against polio, which has returned to Gaza 25 years after it was eradicated there. Together with WHO and UNICEF, the agency has vaccinated more than half a million children during brief lulls in the fighting. A second round of the campaign is scheduled for mid-October.
West Bank and Lebanon
The West Bank has also been engulfed in violence, the UNRWA chief continued. Nearly 700 people have been killed in the past year, including more than 160 children.
“Civilian life is becoming increasingly militarized, and settlement activity is expanding rapidly,” Philippe Lazzarini said. “Israeli security forces regularly destroy public infrastructure in the West Bank.”
Lebanon, he stressed, was the latest victim of this expanding conflict. And civilians there were paying a heavy price. Israeli air strikes have killed and wounded thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands, while Hezbollah continues to fire rockets at Israel.
UNRWA has opened 11 shelters in Lebanon, accommodating more than 4,500 Lebanese, Palestinian and Syrian displaced persons, Lazzarini said.
The Campaign Against UNRWA
“The need for our agency’s services in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and Lebanon has never been greater,” he said. “And we have never been so viciously attacked.”
Israel’s Campaign to Eliminate UNRWA, according to Lazzarini, aims to deprive Palestinians of their refugee status and unilaterally change the parameters of a future political solution.
The situation continues to deteriorate
UN Humanitarian Office spokeswoman Lisa Doughten addressed the Security Council on behalf of Acting Deputy Secretary-General Joyce Msuyi. She reported that the humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate, with new evacuation orders, escalating ground operations and continued mass displacement.
Doughten expressed concern about the intention of Israeli parliamentarians to legislate a ban on the work of the UN Relief and Aid Agency for Palestinian Refugees. The day before, we recall, the UN Secretary-General made a corresponding statement.
According to Doughten, there is no electricity in Gaza, the water and sewage systems are not working, bakeries and shops are closed.
Efforts to deliver aid are encountering many obstacles. In September alone, humanitarian workers waited a total of 212 hours – almost 9 days – to receive permission to travel and security guarantees from the Israeli authorities.
Over the past week, as the speaker reported, the volume of basic supplies to Gaza has sharply decreased. On average, only 50 vehicles with goods enter the enclave daily.
Every day, according to UNRWA, 10 children lose one or both legs. Gaza is now home to the world’s largest cohort of amputee children.