Israel Uses Hunger as a Weapon
CrossFireArabia- November 10, 2024
Israel has used hunger as a weapon, depriving people in Gaza of basic necessities, including food needed for survival, according to Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini.
Forgotten Famine of Gaza
- CrossFireArabia
- November 4, 2024
Since the beginning of the ongoing Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli occupation has imposed a severe blockade, preventing the entry of humanitarian supplies and essential food, leaving more than 2.5 million Palestinians facing the threat of famine and malnutrition.
Israel reduced the daily number of humanitarian aid trucks allowed into the Gaza Strip to just 30 in October, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said Monday.
“This is the lowest in a long time, bringing the assistance back to the level of the beginning of the war,” Philippe Lazzarini said on X.
Since the outbreak of hostilities on Oct. 7, Israel has maintained strict closures on Gaza’s crossings, limiting essential goods and imposing significant restrictions on humanitarian aid, creating severe living conditions.
Lazzarini emphasized that these 30 daily trucks “cannot meet the needs of over 2 million people, many of whom are starving, sick, and in desperate conditions.”
He noted that these trucks “represent only 6% of the supplies (commercial and humanitarian) allowed into Gaza before the war,” according to Anadolu.
Israel has continued a devastating offensive on Gaza since an attack last year by Hamas, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
Nearly 43,400 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 102,200 others injured, according to local health authorities.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.
UNRWA Chief: ‘400,000 People Trapped in North Gaza’
- CrossFireArabia
- October 9, 2024
“At least 400,000 people are trapped in the northern Gaza Strip, and Israeli evacuation orders are forcing people to flee repeatedly, especially from Jabalia camp,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, said.
“A large number of Palestinians are refusing to evacuate, because they realize that there is no safe place in the Gaza Strip,” he explained in a press statements, Wednesday.
“The spread and worsening famine throughout the Strip, with the lack of basic supplies,” is more acute than ever, Lazzarini pointed out.
“Some of the agency’s shelter and service centers are being forced to close for the first time since the beginning of the war,” he added.
“The continued bombing threatens the implementation of the second phase of the polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip,” he emphasized.
The Israeli occupation army, supported by the United States and Europe, has been continuing its aggression on the Gaza Strip for a whole year, as its warplanes bomb the vicinity of hospitals, buildings, towers and homes of Palestinian civilians, destroying them over the heads of their inhabitants, and preventing the entry of water, food, medicine and fuel.
The ongoing aggression by the occupation on Gaza has led to the martyrdom of more than 41,965 martyrs, the injury of more than 97,590 others, and the displacement of 90% of the population of the Strip, according to data from the United Nations.
Gaza Schools ‘Vanish Into Thin Air’
- CrossFireArabia
- September 2, 2024
The Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini said that more than 70% of the agency’s schools in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged, and the majority of them have become shelters crowded with hundreds of thousands of displaced families and cannot be used for education according to Wafa.
Lazzarini added in a post on X that “more than 600,000 children there are deeply traumatized, living in the rubble. They continue to be deprived of learning + schooling. Half of them used to be in UNRWA schools. The longer children stay out of school, the higher the risk of a lost generation, fueling resentment & extremism.”
“In Gaza, more than 70% of our schools are destroyed or damaged. The vast majority of our schools are now overcrowded shelters with hundreds of thousands of displaced families. They cannot be used for learning,” he added.
“With no ceasefire, children are likely to fall prey to exploitation including child labour and recruitment into armed groups. We have seen this way too often in conflicts around the world, let’s not repeat it in Gaza. A ceasefire is a win for all: it will allow respite for civilians, the release of the hostages + a flow of much needed basic supplies including for learning,” he was quoted as saying in the Palestinian news agency.
Gaza: A Children’s Graveyard
- CrossFireArabia
- August 16, 2024
In a recent statement, the UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini revealed that the number of children killed by Israel in Gaza in just over four months surpasses the total number of children killed worldwide in four years.
Eight months ago, just two months into the ongoing Israeli genocide that started soon after 7 October 2023 when Israel waged a full-scale war on the Gaza Strip, a World Health Organization official reported that an average of one Palestinian child was killed every 10 minutes in Gaza.
He described the war as “humanity’s darkest hour.”
Today the number of Palestinians killed, many of which are women and children, stand at over 40,000 through non-stop Israeli bombardment. This is while the number of Palestinians that have been killed has passed the 92,000-mark.
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