UNRWA: Siege, Hunger, and Disease Main Killer in Gaza

By Staff, Agencies

The UN Relief and Works Agency [UNRWA], Philippe Lazzarini, warned that siege, hunger, and diseases will soon become the main killer in Gaza.

Lazzarini, who heads the UNRWA for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, took to X on Wednesday to vent his concern for the growing hunger and spread of diseases as a result of the “Israeli” siege on the besieged strip.

He said starvation and illness may soon be the main killer in Gaza.

“This fabricated and catastrophic level of hunger can still be reversed by flooding Gaza with food and life-saving assistance,” Lazzarini said.

“More than ever humanity requires political will,” the UNRWA chief added.

In a press release on March 19, UNRWA said that “famine is imminent in the Gaza Strip, especially for isolated populations in northern Gaza deprived of humanitarian aid.”

The statement noted that the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification [IPC], in a latest food security outlook, concluded that up to 1.1 million people in Gaza are facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity.

“Nutrition screenings conducted in February by UNICEF and UNRWA show that rates of acute malnutrition among children in northern Gaza and Rafah have nearly doubled since January,” it said.

Condemning the suspension of funding, Lazzarini had said, “It would be immensely irresponsible to sanction an agency and an entire community…, especially at a time of war, displacement and political crises in the region.”