UNRWA chief says 99 of agency’s workers have been killed since start of war

The head of UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees and their descendants, says 99 of his colleagues have been killed in Gaza since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war a month ago.

Speaking to a Paris conference on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, UNRWA commissioner-general Phillip Lazzarini says this figure is “the highest number of UN aid workers killed in a conflict in such a short time.”

Lazzarini says over 700,000 displaced Gazans are now living in “degrading conditions in 150 UNRWA schools and buildings across the enclave.”

“Our shelters are overcrowded, with little food, water or privacy,” he says. “Children used to learn and laugh in this school. Today, they plead for a piece of bread and a sip of water.”

“The appalling sanitary conditions represent a looming public health hazard,” the UNRWA chief adds.

“Condemning the horrendous massacre committed by Hamas in Israel is the right thing to do. The UN has done so and continues to call for hostages to be released,” he clarifies. “This cannot, however, justify a war that disregards international humanitarian law and promotes dehumanizing rhetoric.”

Lazzarini calls for an immediate ceasefire, the funneling of significantly more aid into Gaza, more funds for the the cash-strapped UNRWA and for countries to figure out a plan for postwar Gaza that ensures equality for Israelis and Palestinians.