Acting Deputy Commissioner-General Natalie Boucly United Nations General Assembly Briefing Statement
UNRWA
17 Nov 2023
Mr. President,
Excellencies,
The situation in Gaza is dire.
1.6 million people have been displaced, out of a total of 2.2 million. It is the largest displacement of Palestinians since 1948.
The scale of destruction and loss is staggering.
Entire neighborhoods have been razed to the ground.
More than half of the housing units in Gaza are reportedly destroyed.
At least 154 UNRWA schools and other buildings have been turned into shelters overnight.
They now house more than 810,000 people. That is, half of the displaced population.
The Commissioner-General recently went to one of these shelters - a school turned shelter - in Rafah.
It was a heartbreaking experience.
The shelter was massively overcrowded and unsanitary, with conditions of life that lack dignity.
Hundreds of people share one toilet.
Everyone was pleading for water and food, especially children.
Children who should be in that school to learn and play, not shelter from bombs.
Mr. President,
The sheer number of civilian casualties in Gaza is shocking.
More than 11,000 people have been killed, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, including over 4,000 children.
Among them are 103 UNRWA colleagues, mostly killed in their homes - the highest number of UN aid workers killed in any conflict.
While UNRWA cannot verify all civilian deaths, we can say that the number of our staff killed in Gaza is proportionate to the estimated number of civilian deaths. UNRWA has relied on the Ministry of Health figures in all previous wars.
Earlier this week, the UN lowered its flag around the world in a mark of respect to these staff members.
In Gaza, we continued to fly the UN blue flag high, to reflect our determination to stay and deliver, in near-impossible circumstances.
Some 5,000 UNRWA staff members - from our 13,000 total workforce - in Gaza continue to come in to work each day.
All the while they are also displaced, bereaved, and living alongside the people they serve.
They suffer the same deprivation, the same heartbreak. Yet, they find the strength to push through another day.
I am humbled to be their colleague.
Mr. President,
Nowhere is safe in Gaza.
The Israeli Authorities asked people to move to the south.
However, no part of the Gaza Strip has been spared from bombardment.
The military escalation in the South of the last few days defies the reassurance that people had received about moving south to be safe.
Hospitals, mosques, churches, bakeries, and over 60 UNRWA buildings and schools have been hit across Gaza.
Most of our impacted facilities (60 per cent) were in the middle areas and in the south.
This is where people were told to go for safety.
They came to UNRWA buildings to be protected by the UN flag.
As of yesterday, the telecommunications blackout due to the lack of fuel is adding to the anxiety and distress of people in Gaza.
As the Commissioner-General told the Security-Council, all this cannot be casually labeled "collateral damage".
Mr. President,
There is talk about expelling the population from Gaza altogether, including into "safe zones".
Unilateral proposals for "safe zones" are no substitute for compliance with international humanitarian law.
A "safe zone" can protect civilians only if all parties to the conflict agree to preserve and respect its civilian character. That is not the case here.
Regardless of whether "safe zones" are established, the obligations of the parties to protect civilians remain, including those who, for whatever reason, are located outside the designated area.
One party abusing international law does not lessen the obligations of the other party to respect it.
I must stress that the UN is not giving assistance to anyone in the Al Mawasi area in the south of the Gaza Strip, a stretch of sand of 14 square kilometers, with no UN or other infrastructure.
Putting 2 million people in the open air without infrastructure will make it impossible to provide lifesaving assistance, giving rise to health hazards.
This does not qualify as a valid humanitarian initiative.
Our approach was well explained by Martin Griffiths. We are focusing on improving and extending our current shelter capacity in public buildings. This is where UNRWA already works, this is where our staff goes every day.
Mr. President,
Gaza is under siege.
2.2 million people are being denied access to life's essentials, which amounts to collective punishment.
There is simply not enough water, food, medicine, or fuel to sustain life.
The little aid coming in through Rafah is not remotely enough to cover the immense needs of the population.
No fuel had entered Rafah since the beginning of the war until three days ago.
We heard it from Martin. We received 23,000 liters of fuel, on the condition that we would only use it for our own trucks. Our humanitarian operation uses at a bare minimum 120,000 liters per day.
Fuel is desperately needed for electricity, water and sanitation for the 810,000 people we are sheltering.
We also need to continue giving fuel to bakeries and hospitals.
Without fuel, hospitals across Gaza are shutting down, having to make inhumane decisions as to whose life, if any, to save, in such circumstances.
Surgeries are not being performed, life support machines and incubators are shutting off, and as a result, people, including infants, are dying. For what?
I want to stress that an Occupying Power, whether in time of peace or war, has the responsibility to ensure that the civilian population has access to food, water, shelter and other necessities of life.
Excellencies,
Our work has become 'mission impossible'.
I have worked in many conflict settings with the United Nations.
This situation is nothing short of a travesty.
Humanitarian aid is being made conditional - it is dependent on political negotiations.
Aid workers are asked to be complicit in displacing the population.
We cannot fully protect people in UN premises, under the UN flag.
We cannot reach people in need, including thousands still trapped in the north.
We cannot provide sufficient assistance to those we can reach.
As our fuel stocks are almost completely depleted, our ability to work and deliver our mandate is under threat.
The implications for the civilian population, including 13,000 UNRWA staff, and our operations, are massive.
Mr. President,
The de-humanization rhetoric in this conflict is worrying, reminiscent of the worst possible times in history.
The massacres of 7 October by Hamas were horrific and we strongly condemn them. But we have heard statements from top Israeli officials referring to ALL Palestinians as "human animals," and promising them destruction and hell.
This language is extremely dangerous. It makes what was previously unacceptable, acceptable.
As the Commissioner-General reiterated in Geneva yesterday, there should be no hierarchy in levels of suffering, pain and empathy.
Mr. President,
**The whole region is simmering. **
There is anger and tension throughout, and it is manifesting in increased violence.
In the West Bank, Israeli military incursions and settler violence have caused record high death tolls among the Palestinians.
Movements restrictions are impacting our ability to run schools and clinics, affecting the refugee population.
On the Israeli border with Lebanon, there are regular clashes and civilian casualties, and these are intensifying.
Any further escalation on these fronts would be a disaster for the region and beyond.
Mr. President, Excellencies,
There is a collective responsibility on the part of the international community to ensure that this horror ends now. We must remain steadfast in our determination, and I must quote from a famous text: 'to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, and reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person'.
First, an immediate, sustained, humanitarian ceasefire must be implemented, along with strict adherence to international humanitarian law.
Wars have rules.
It is high time for these rules to be followed in Gaza.
Civilians and civilian infrastructure, including UN facilities hosting displaced people, must be protected everywhere.
Second, a meaningful, unconditional, and continuous flow of humanitarian aid, including fuel, is absolutely needed and it is needed now.
All crossings should be open, in particular, crossing points with Israel like Kerem Shalom.
Aid must reach all people in need in Gaza, wherever they are.
Humanitarian aid alone, however, will not cover the needs of people in Gaza.
It must be complemented by the private sector and public, municipal services like water and waste management.
Commercial lines must be reopened, so that shops and retailers can replenish their stocks.
Third, UNRWA still needs funds.
We are grateful to the countries that announced new contributions in the past weeks.
However, our core budget remains underfunded. We have repeatedly sounded the alarm that the largest UN Agency in Gaza might not have the funds to pay staff, including those on the frontlines in Gaza, until the end of the year.
UNRWA is among the last glimmers of hope in a truly desperate place.
Our services in the West Bank and Lebanon continue and are for many the only lifeline. I implore your governments to remain generous and ask those that have excluded the Agency from their contributions to reconsider. We stand ready to engage with them.
**Finally, we must **step back from the brink before it is too late.
In terms of the aftermath, a genuine prospect of Palestinian statehood is critical to stabilize the region.
It is in the interest of all, including Israel, to find a solution that allows Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace, side by side. At the moment, no one does, and no one probably will, unless a fair and lasting political solution is found to this conflict. This is no way to live.
Thank you Mr. President.
Background Information:
UNRWA is the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. The United Nations General Assembly established UNRWA in 1949 with a mandate to provide humanitarian assistance and protection to registered Palestine refugees in the Agency's area of operations pending a just and lasting solution to their plight.
UNRWA operates in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, The Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Tens of thousands of Palestine refugees who lost their homes and livelihoods due to the 1948 conflict continue to be displaced and in need of support, nearly 75 years on.
UNRWA helps Palestine Refugees achieve their full potential in human development through quality services it provides in education, health care, relief and social services, protection, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance, and emergency assistance. UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions.
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