Cairo: What is happening in the Gaza Strip has crossed 'all red lines', Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini said on Saturday. Speaking in a joint news conference with Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatti, Lazzarini said there is a kind of immunity and lack of accountability for the atrocities committed by the Israeli occupation forces, which have even targeted humanitarian aid workers, with 360 of them killed. He noted he held a detailed discussion with the Egyptian minister about the situation in Gaza, indicating that the UNRWA has warned, since months, against this famine, but nobody listened to "us". Humanitarian aid workers feel hungry and faint, and this means that humanitarian response in Gaza collapses, he said.
According to Kuwait News Agency, UNRWA has all basic needs in Egypt and Jordan, and the solution to end this starvation is existing, he said, asking the Israeli occupation to lift restrictions to end this humanitarian disaster. Commending journalists' work in Gaza, he signaled that 250 of them have been killed just because they helped the world to know what is going on in Gaza. The mission of UNRWA has been renewed this year, which is a chance for the UN member states to express their support for the Palestinian people. Meanwhile, Abdelatti affirmed that the Israeli occupation puts restrictions that impede the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and uses starvation as a war weapon in the Strip.
Egypt has kept the Rafah border crossing open around the clock, although it remains closed from the Palestinian side due to the occupation, he said. Any attempt to undermine UNRWA's mission, under any pretext and justification, is unaccepted, he affirmed. UNRWA is not only an aid agency, but an eyewitness to the international community's humanitarian responsibility towards the Palestinian issue, he said. "We are making all efforts with all donor parties to ensure the continued support to UNRWA," he noted, holding the international community accountable for the unacceptable withdrawal from UNRWA support.
Egypt has been playing a pivotal role and working with Qatar and the United States to impose a ceasefire deal, but the persistent intransigence of the Israeli occupation is a main obstacle to achieving tangible progress in the path of a truce, he stressed. He said he spoke with Lazzarini about Egypt's determination to host a conference on the early recovery in Gaza as soon as a ceasefire is announced to work for providing full support to carry out the Arab-Muslim plan, he revealed.