UN mission ‘collapsing’ in Gaza as boss predicts killings of his own staff | World News

More than 130 UNRWA staff have already died in Gaza and around 7,000 ‘lack food, water and adequate shelter’ after being forced from their homes amid Israeli shelling, Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said on Friday.

In a desperate letter to UN leaders pleading for an ‘immediate’ ceasfire, he wrote: ‘We are hanging on by our fingertips.

‘If the UNRWA collapses, humanitarian assistance in Gaza will also collapse.’

The UNRWA employs around 10,000 people in Gaza, most of whom are Palestinians, to run schools, health clinics and other relief services.

Mr Lazzarini said he expects more of his staff to die in the ongoing Israeli offensive.

Branding the current situation ‘the darkest hour in the Agency’s 75-year-history’, he warned the UNRWA’s ability to continue working is ‘today severely limited with immediate and dire consequences’ for civilian lives.

‘Today, as a result of Israel’s military operation, nearly 1.2 million civilians are sheltering in UNRWA premises,’ Mr Lazzarini wrote.

‘Our staff are still operating health centres, managing shelters, and supporting traumatised people, some arriving carrying their dead children.

‘We are still distributing food, even though the corridors and courtyards of our premises are too crowded to walk through.

‘Our staff take their children to work so they know they are safe or can die together.’

As well as a ‘humanitarian ceasefire’ Mr Lazzarini repeated calls for the UN General Assembly to ‘enforce international law’ in Gaza and ‘protect prospects for a political solution’.

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