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UNRWA warns Israel-US-backed aid model wastes resources

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 28 May 2025 3:11 PM

Commissioner General of the UN's Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has warned that the aid delivery and distribution model introduced by the Israeli regime and the US not only wastes much-needed resources but is also a distraction from the Israeli atrocities in the territory.

On Wednesday, Philippe Lazzarini condemned the opening of a distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in Rafah in southern Gaza, which caused a stampede the day before, where three Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire.

On Tuesday, thousands of Palestinians rushed towards the distribution site and climbed over its fences to reach the humanitarian supplies.

Tuesday's stampede came days after the Israeli regime claimed it had eased the total blockade it has imposed since March 2 on the enclave, which has resulted in a severe shortage of food, fuel, medicine, and water.

Despite the horrific and inhumane reports coming out of Gaza, the Israeli regime's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, later acknowledged a "loss of control momentarily" at the center, but a senior military official said the distribution was nonetheless "a success."

"We saw yesterday the shocking images of hungry people pushing against fences, desperate for food. It was chaotic, undignified, and unsafe," said Lazzarini.

"I believe it is a waste of resources and a distraction from atrocities. We already have an aid distribution system that is fit for purpose ... Meanwhile; the clock is ticking towards famine, so humanitarian (work) must be allowed to do its life-saving work now," he emphasized.

The US created GHF in early May and sidelined the UN and its subsidiaries like UNRWA. The Israeli regime has facilitated GHF's efforts and says the model keeps supplies out of Hamas's hands.

GHF has been accused of assisting the Israeli regime in fulfilling its military objectives and excluding the most vulnerable Palestinians from receiving aid.

The UN and other international aid groups have boycotted the foundation, which they say undermines the principle that humanitarian aid should be distributed independently of the parties to a conflict.

"The model of aid distribution proposed by Israel does not align with core humanitarian principles ... It will deprive a large part of Gaza, the highly vulnerable people, of desperately needed assistance," Lazzarini said.

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has escalated dramatically since March 18, when the Israeli regime violated its ceasefire agreement with the resistance group Hamas.

According to the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), Gaza suffers from phase 5 famine, and nearly 71,000 children under the age of five are at risk of acute malnutrition.

IPC defines phase 5 famine as when at least one in five households experience an extreme lack of food and face starvation, resulting in destitution, extremely critical levels of acute malnutrition, and death.