AhlulBayt News Agency: A senior official at the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) emphasized that Israel is violating international law by continuing to restrict aid deliveries into Gaza, where people face severe shortages of food and essential goods as winter approaches.
During a visit to Brussels, Natalie Boucly, UNRWA’s deputy commissioner general, urged the international community, including the EU and US, to intensify pressure on Israel to allow unrestricted aid into Gaza.
Boucly explained that UNRWA has sufficient food, tents, and other supplies to fill up to 6,000 trucks.
“As winter nears and famine grips the population, it is urgent that all this aid enters Gaza without delay,” she said. “Our supplies could feed the entire population for about three months, yet they remain stuck in Jordan and Egypt. Other UN agencies face the same restrictions.”
She estimated that only about half, “if that,” of the 500–600 truckloads needed daily are reaching Gaza.
Boucly stressed that Israel, as the occupying power, is “not complying with international humanitarian law and human rights law,” citing the Fourth Geneva Convention and a recent advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) requiring Israel to ensure Palestinians receive “essential supplies of daily life.”
The ICJ ruling, issued on October 22, also concluded that Israel must cooperate with UNRWA. The court found no evidence that UNRWA lacked neutrality or that its staff were significantly linked to Hamas, contrary to claims by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
Israel cut diplomatic ties with UNRWA after accusing it of infiltration by Hamas and misuse of facilities. The ICJ noted that nine UNRWA employees were dismissed over possible involvement in the October 7, 2023 attacks but said Israel’s broader allegations were unproven.
Boucly added she had no indication that Israel would change its no-contact policy toward UNRWA.
UNRWA was established in 1948 to assist 700,000 Palestinian refugees displaced during the war surrounding Israel’s creation. Though intended as temporary, it now provides health, education, welfare, and other services to 5.9 million registered Palestinian refugees across the occupied territories and neighboring states.
“It is not the time for UNRWA to collapse,” Boucly said. “We are irreplaceable because no one else can take over our role.”
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