The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, confirmed on Monday that there is no alternative to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Palestinian territories.
According to global media reports, Borrell stated, “We must wait for the results of the investigations regarding the UNRWA agency.”
He also warned that any Israeli attack on Rafah would halt relief aid and exacerbate the humanitarian disaster.
The senior European official mentioned that Netanyahu is demanding the evacuation of 1.7 million people without discussing where they could go.
Earlier, Borrell expressed his concern about the Israeli plan to attack the city of Rafah, the last refuge for displaced Palestinians, warning that the consequences would be “catastrophic.”
Earlier in the day, the WHO Director stated that the medical supplies that entered the Gaza Strip are just a “drop in the ocean” of needs.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director, emphasized the ongoing demand for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
“We have delivered 447 tons of medical aid to Gaza, which is just a fraction of what Gaza needs,” he continued.
He added, “We continue to call for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, a ceasefire, and the release of those detained by Hamas.”
The WHO Director warned that a military intervention in Rafah would result in humanitarian disasters, given that one and a half million people live there.
The suspension of aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) by several major donor countries occurred after allegations surfaced that around a dozen of UNRWA’s tens of thousands of Palestinian employees were suspected of involvement in the October 7 attacks in Israel by Hamas. These allegations included the participation of nine UNRWA staff members, who worked as teachers, in the attacks, with Israel claiming that the agency has employed up to 190 militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Following these allegations, countries including the United States, Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland decided to suspend their funding to UNRWA, putting the agency’s operations and its mission to provide humanitarian aid and services in Gaza and the region at risk. UNRWA responded by dismissing the implicated staff members and called for a transparent independent investigation, emphasizing the critical nature of their services in Gaza, where they employ 13,000 people and provide aid to nearly the entire population affected by the conflict and the blockade imposed since 2005.
