UNRWA chief claims Israel prioritizing private sector goods to Gaza via Kerem Shalom Crossing

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini claims that Israeli authorities are prioritizing the private commercial sector at the main crossing point for goods entering Gaza.

“When it comes to the crossing in Kerem Shalom, the private sector for the time being is being prioritized,” Lazzarini tells AFP, adding that the development had occurred over the past two weeks.

He says the prioritization took place at the inspections level, with private sector trucks inspected “before any other trucks.”

While private goods are “welcome in the Gaza Strip,” Lazzarini says most Gazans are desperate after seven months of war and cannot afford goods at the current market prices.

“We need a combination of both humanitarian aid and market” in Gaza, Lazzarini says.

Following the discovery that at least 12 UNRWA staffers directly took part in the October 7 massacre – which saw 1,200 people killed, mostly civilians, and 252 taken hostage – and at least another 30 provided assistance, Israel has repeatedly called for Lazzarini to resign.

Israel has long accused the UN agency for Palestinian refugees of perpetuating the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by extending refugee status to millions of descendants of Palestinians who fled or were forced out of homes in today’s Israel at the time of the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948, rather than limiting such a status only to the original refugees, as is the norm with most refugee populations worldwide.

Israel and other groups have also long argued that UNRWA school materials glorify terrorism and anti-Israel incitement.