Israel denies blocking UNRWA chief from entering Gaza after Cairo accusation

Israel says it did not block the head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency from entering Gaza today, after Egypt accused Jerusalem of an “unprecedented” decision to bar him.

“I intended to go to Rafah today, but I have been informed an hour ago that my entry into Rafah is declined,” United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees chief Philippe Lazzarini says during a press conference in Cairo with Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry.

Shoukry says Lazzarini was barred by Israel.

“You were declined by the Israeli government, refused the entry which is an unprecedented move for a representative at this high position,” he says.

But a spokesperson for Israel’s Foreign Ministry tells The Times of Israel it did not block Lazzarini.

The UN relief chief also says that hunger in the Gaza Strip is “man-made.”

“We are engaged in a race against the clock to try to reverse the impact of the spreading hunger and the looming famine in the Gaza Strip,” he says.