Ο επικεφαλής της UNRWA φοβάται ότι η Γάζα μπορεί να πάψει να είναι «γη για τους Παλαιστίνιους»
Ο Philippe Lazzarini αναφέρει στο Euronews ότι τα σχέδια του Ισραήλ για τη Γάζα είναι «δυστοπικά» αφού ο Netanyahu δηλώνει την πρόθεσή του να ελέγξει ολόκληρη την παλαιστινιακή επικράτεια.
ΔΙΑΒΑΣΤΕ ΕΠΙΣΗΣ : http://gr.euronews.com/2025/05/22/o-epikefalhs-ths-unrwa-fobatai-oti-h-gaza-mporei-na-papsei-na-einai-gh-gia-toys-palaistini
Γίνε συνδρομητής! ! Το euronews είναι διαθέσιμο σε 12 γλώσσες
Ο Philippe Lazzarini αναφέρει στο Euronews ότι τα σχέδια του Ισραήλ για τη Γάζα είναι «δυστοπικά» αφού ο Netanyahu δηλώνει την πρόθεσή του να ελέγξει ολόκληρη την παλαιστινιακή επικράτεια.
ΔΙΑΒΑΣΤΕ ΕΠΙΣΗΣ : http://gr.euronews.com/2025/05/22/o-epikefalhs-ths-unrwa-fobatai-oti-h-gaza-mporei-na-papsei-na-einai-gh-gia-toys-palaistini
Γίνε συνδρομητής! ! Το euronews είναι διαθέσιμο σε 12 γλώσσες
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NewsTranscript
00:00Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE
00:30Filippe Lazzarini, thank you for joining us on the Europe Conversation.
00:35Now, I'd like to start with the situation in Gaza.
00:38We know that Israel has been blocking the entry of all humanitarian aid since the 2nd of March.
00:45That'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.
01:05What 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.
01:23Hunger is deepening.
01:25We heard last week from the nutrition expert that half a million people are living in catastrophic situations,
01:32and the rest of the population also might face famine if this siege continues,
01:38which means the daily life of the people in Gaza is to struggle to survive,
01:45to make sure that they are not killed by 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,
02:00and that's while a new operation backed by the U.S. and Israel is preparing to start distributing aid.
02:08Do 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.
02:27It's man-made.
02:28Basically, we are in a situation where hunger and food is being weaponized for political and military purposes.
02:37Now, 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 assistance and supply
02:52to 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.
03:10Do you think that's a legitimate concern?
03:14And 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 justify that we use food or deprive an entire population of having access to food
03:34to the extent that we are starving the population for any purposes of any kind as a starting point.
03:41There is a basic right in any situation, in situation of crisis, and also a basic obligation to provide access
03:50and make sure that humanitarian assistance reaches the people.
03:54Now we hear about the accusation of diversion of food in Gaza.
04:01There is no UN agencies who have heard about any large-scale diversion.
04:07What we have seen at the beginning of the ceasefire, when there was not enough food in the Gaza Strait,
04:13there have been situations of looting, where desperate people were just jumping on the trucks and taking the food.
04:23But we have never, ever been notified of any diversion.
04:27Now, Israel, with the backing of the US, has established a new plan,
04:31which would use a charity called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, as well as private firms,
04:38in order to deliver aid to the people.
04:40But you've said that you cannot support this plan. Why is that?
04:44Well, the UN cannot support this plan because it's far from meeting any basic humanitarian principle,
04:53including humanity and impartiality.
04:56Today, we are talking about four hubs in the Gaza Strip,
05:01forcing people to walk kilometers to have access to the hub
05:06and to carry on very heavy parcels back to the family,
05:12which means with a system like this one, only those close to the hub will have access to assistance.
05:19And secondly, the weakest, the most vulnerable are the female household will have absolutely no possibility to go there.
05:28You say you cannot support this plan. It's not impartial.
05:32Yet Israel says or accuses UNRWA of not being impartial, of not being neutral.
05:40It 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?
06:04There is a war of narrative. There is a propaganda going on.
06:08There is also an objective to eliminate an organization like UNRWA,
06:13because by eliminating UNRWA, Israel also aims at stripping the refugee status of the Palestinians.
06:21Now, having said that, we are taking any allegation very seriously.
06:26The famous 19 names you are mentioning right now, there have been investigation.
06:33Investigation have been non-conclusive, but we have taken action.
06:38Later on, there have been allegations of hundreds of names.
06:42Constantly, the agency is asking for substantiated information we never receive.
06:48Hence, we are not in a possibility to follow up just on allegations being provided that way.
06:56Yet, there is a 72-page document publicly available on the Israeli government's website.
07:02It says it contains abundant proof of how Hamas has infiltrated UNRWA.
07:09Are you saying that you are contesting all of that evidence that Israel says it has?
07:16I'm not contesting everything.
07:20What I'm saying is, number one, we are not operating in a no-risk environment.
07:25But we have a no-tolerance policy.
07:29Whenever there is an allegation that a staff might be part of the armed group of Hamas or the G.I.D.
07:36we will act quickly and smoothly.
07:40But for that, we need collaboration, we need information.
07:46And over the last two years, I have repeatedly asked the government of Israel
07:52to share information with the UN and with UNRWA so that we can undertake investigation.
08:00Until today, we have never received any substantiated information.
08:05Now, you mentioned there is a full-scale military operation underway.
08:10Euronews 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.
08:26There are signs now that this plan is underway.
08:29How do you respond to this?
08:31Well, there are many plans that we have seen until now.
08:35Some of them are more dystopian than other ones.
08:40I do not know what it means to send people in a secure zone.
08:45Until now, Gaza has proven that there is absolutely no safe place.
08:50Israel said last year that there is a safe humanitarian zone in the south of Gaza.
08:56But we have also seen that it has been regularly targeted, bombarded, and even people living on the tent have been killed.
09:04And so what I see for the time being is a continuation of the destruction of the deaths and killing of the Palestinians in Gaza.
09:16And 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?
09:32I do believe that President Donald Trump has the necessary influence to change the situation in Gaza
09:43and 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.
09:55Today, is UNRWA still able to deliver for Palestinian refugees given all of these difficulties?
10:04Despite the fact that the agency is experiencing its darkest hours,
10:10our staff, despite the fact that it is exhausted, it is anxious,
10:16and they are also struggling to stay alive,
10:20they 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.
10:33I'm hoping that we will be able to stay afloat, to continue to provide our services to the communities.
10:40The shortfall today is more than 200 million dollars
10:44to keep our education and primary health services across the region.
10:50It's a race against the clock,
10:51and I really hope I will not be pushed in a situation where I have to announce the suspension of our services.
11:01But that is something you've had to contemplate?
11:04This 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,
11:14that are currently cutting back on humanitarian aid funding?
11:19Well, the main message is do not compromise our ability to respond to crisis.
11:25I know that many countries are going through austerity budget,
11:29but cutting in international cooperation or humanitarian assistance
11:34is certainly not the area where countries should cut.
11:40I mean, for example, if we do not address the crisis,
11:43people will want to want to leave and most likely come here,
11:49and then the cost will be much more expensive.
11:52Mr. Vattarini, thank you for your time.
11:54Thank you.
11:54www.vattarini.com