Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), stated in a press release on Thursday that “it is with regret that I announce the agency has reached a breaking point.”
In his statement, Lazzarini highlighted Israel’s repeated calls for the dismantling of UNRWA and the freezing of its funding by donor countries, at a time when Gaza is experiencing “unprecedented humanitarian needs.”
Funding from 16 countries has been suspended pending the results of an investigation by the UN’s Office of Internal Oversight. Dorothy Klaus, UNRWA’s Director of Affairs in Lebanon, mentioned that the findings are expected to be released within a few weeks.
The UNRWA Lebanon Office Director expressed on Thursday that the agency “has no contingency plan” for the period following March if donor countries maintain their funding suspension. This follows Israel’s accusations, which led to the initial funding halt.
“We hope that as many donors as possible will indicate they are reconsidering the freeze on funding and will resume their financial support to the agency in a manner that we hope will not lead us to face a cash flow problem, allowing services to continue uninterrupted,” she stated, adding, “We have no Plan B.”
This announcement underlines the critical financial challenges facing UNRWA and the potential impact on its ability to provide essential services to Palestinian refugees, amidst growing geopolitical tensions and humanitarian needs in the region.
