UNRWA chief fears Gaza may stop being ‘land for Palestinians’ amid Israeli offensive
Philippe Lazzarini tells Euronews Israeli plans for Gaza are ‘dystopian’ after Netanyahu declares intention to control the entirety of the Palestinian territory.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/05/22/unrwa-chief-fears-gaza-may-stop-being-land-for-palestinians-amid-israeli-offensive
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Philippe Lazzarini tells Euronews Israeli plans for Gaza are ‘dystopian’ after Netanyahu declares intention to control the entirety of the Palestinian territory.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/05/22/unrwa-chief-fears-gaza-may-stop-being-land-for-palestinians-amid-israeli-offensive
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
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00:00My guest on the Europe Conversation is Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner General of UNRWA,
00:14the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees. He told me, as Israel deepens its offensive in the Gaza
00:21Strip, that he fears that Gaza may soon no longer be a land where Palestinians can live.
00:30Philippe Lazzarini, thank you for joining us on the Europe Conversation.
00:35Now, I'd like to start with the situation in Gaza. We know that Israel has been blocking
00:41the entry of all humanitarian aid since the 2nd of March. That's 11 consecutive weeks now.
00:48Now, I know you're personally banned from entering Gaza, but you have colleagues there on the ground.
00:53From what they tell you, how would you describe the situation for people in Gaza as we speak?
01:01That's correct. We have 12,000 employees still in Gaza. What they describe is beyond imagination.
01:10In fact, as you said, there have been now a total siege imposed on Gaza since 11 weeks,
01:16which means nothing entered, which means that there is no food available anymore. Hunger is deepening.
01:25We heard last week from the nutrition expert that half a million people are living in catastrophic
01:32situations and the rest of the population also might face famine if this siege continues, which means
01:39the daily life of the people in Gaza is to struggle to survive, to make sure that they are not killed
01:47by bombing, by disease or now by hunger.
01:51Now, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he will now let basic amounts of food enter.
01:59And that's while a new operation backed by the US and Israel is preparing to start distributing aid.
02:07Do you believe this restricted amount of supplies that will now go in will do anything to change the humanitarian situation you've just described?
02:16Well, first of all, it's a total outrage that we are confronted to a situation of starvation when it comes to Gaza.
02:24It's a completely fabricated one. It's man-made. Basically, we are in a situation where hunger and food is being weaponized
02:34for political and military purposes. Now, today we heard that some basic assistance will come in.
02:41We have to define what the basic is because what is needed in Gaza is a massive, unhindered, uninterrupted
02:50assistance and supply to make sure that we are reversing the trend of the spreading hunger in the Gaza Strait.
02:57But the Israeli Prime Minister is saying that it has to block aid because Hamas and other militant groups are hijacking that aid,
03:07looting the aid and even monetizing that aid. Do you think that's a legitimate concern?
03:13And do you think that the safeguards UNRWA had in place to prevent Hamas from accessing and diverting the aid were as strong as possible?
03:24First of all, nothing justifies that we use food or deprive an entire population of having access to food to the extent that we are starving the population
03:36for any purposes of any kind as a starting point. There is a basic right in any situation, in situation of crisis,
03:45and also a basic obligation to provide access and make sure that humanitarian assistance reaches the people.
03:53Now we hear about the accusation of diversion of food in Gaza. There is no UN agencies who have heard about any large scale diversion.
04:06What we have seen at the beginning of the ceasefire, when there was not enough food in the Gaza Strait, there have been situations of looting,
04:16where desperate people were just jumping on the trucks and taking the food. But we have never ever been notified of any diversion.
04:27Now, Israel, with the backing of the US, has established a new plan which would use a charity called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,
04:35as well as private firms, in order to deliver aid to the people. But you've said that you cannot support this plan. Why is that?
04:44Well, the UN cannot support this plan because it's fall far from meeting any basic humanitarian principle, including humanity and impartiality.
04:56Today we are talking about four hubs in the Gaza Strait, forcing people to walk kilometres to have access to the hub,
05:06and to carry on very heavy parcels back to the family. Which means, with a system like this one, only those close to the hub will have access to assistance.
05:18And secondly, the weakest, the most vulnerable of the female household will have absolutely no possibility to go there.
05:28You say you cannot support this plan, it's not impartial. Yet Israel says, or accuses UNRWA of not being impartial, of not being neutral.
05:39It says that UNRWA's operations in Gaza are inevitably compromised by Hamas, which governs there.
05:46It says proof of that is the fact that the agency fired 19 employees suspected of taking part in the October 7th attacks on Israel.
05:57Can you accept that all of this makes it very difficult for Israel to trust UNRWA?
06:03There is a war of narrative, there is propaganda going on, there is also an objective to eliminate an organisation like UNRWA,
06:12because by eliminating UNRWA, Israel also aims at stripping the refugee status of the Palestinians.
06:20Now, having said that, we are taking any allegation very seriously. The famous 19 names you are mentioning right now, there have been investigation, investigation have been non-conclusive, but we have taken action.
06:37Later on, there have been allegations of hundreds of names. Constantly the agency is asking for substantiated information we never receive. Hence, we are not in a possibility to follow up just on allegation being provided that way.
06:56Yet there is a 72-page document publicly available on the Israeli government's website. It says it contains abundant proof of how Hamas has infiltrated UNRWA. Are you saying that you are contesting all of that evidence that Israel says it has?
07:15I am not contesting everything. What I am saying is, number one, we are not operating in a no-risk environment, but we have a no-tolerance policy.
07:28Whenever there is an allegation that a staff might be part of the armed group of Hamas or the jihadists, we will act quickly and smoothly. But for that, we need collaboration, we need information.
07:44And over the last two years, I have repeatedly asked the government of Israel to share information with the UN or with UNRWA so that we can undertake investigation. Until today, we have never received any substantiated information.
08:05Now, you mentioned there is a full-scale military operation underway. Euronews exclusively saw a plan for Gaza's future last week, which is being considered by the Israeli government.
08:18It suggests the IDF could take control of the whole of Gaza and force civilians into designated security zones. There are signs now that this plan is underway. How do you respond to this?
08:31Well, there are many plans that we have seen until now. Some of them are more dystopian than other ones. I do not know what it means to send people in secure zone.
08:44Until now, Gaza has proven that there is absolutely no safe place. Israel said last year that there is a safe humanitarian zone in the south of Gaza, but we have also seen that it has been regularly targeted, bombarded, and even people living on the tent have been killed.
09:04So what I see for the time being is a continuation of the destruction of the deaths and killing of the Palestinians in Gaza. And my fear is that we might reach a point where Gaza might not be a land anymore for Palestinians to live in.
09:26Do you believe Donald Trump when he says he can take care of the situation in Gaza?
09:33I do believe that President Donald Trump has the necessary influence to change the situation in Gaza and to make sure that the siege be lifted and that the population get access to the assistance it deserves.
09:50You've previously said that UNRWA is living its darkest hour. Today, is UNRWA still able to deliver for Palestinian refugees given all of these difficulties?
10:03Despite the fact that the agency is experiencing its darkest hours, our staff, despite the fact that it is exhausted, it is anxious, and they are also struggling to stay alive, they are able to provide services to the community even today in Gaza.
10:24But under the current financing system, how long can UNRWA continue to operate as things stand right now?
10:31That's a very good question. I'm hoping that we will be able to stay afloat, to continue to provide our services to the communities. The shortfall today is more than $200 million to keep our education and primary health services across the region.
10:49It's a race against the clock, and I really hope I will not be pushed in a situation where I have to announce the suspension of our services.
11:00But that is something you've had to contemplate?
11:03This is something I unfortunately have to contemplate on a regular basis.
11:09What would be your message to those Western governments, as we are seeing right now, that are currently cutting back on humanitarian aid funding?
11:18Well, the main message is, do not compromise our ability to respond to crisis. I know that many countries are going through austerity budget, but cutting in international cooperation or humanitarian assistance is certainly not the area where countries should cut.
11:39I mean, for example, if we do not address the crisis, people will want to want to leave, and most likely come here, and then the cost will be much more expensive.
11:51Mr. Vattarini, thank you for your time.