He is experienced in extreme humanitarian situations, but what he saw in Gaza deeply moved him. At the microphone of France Inter, the Commissioner General of UNRWA (United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees) Philippe Lazzarini recounted his visit to this strip of territory. “After my visit, I said that it was one of the saddest days of my career as a humanitarian,” the humanitarian said.
This senior UN official continues: “I visited a school where we have thousands of displaced people. Normally, the school should be a place of education and life. Students from this school were moved there and begged for water and a piece of bread. »
“Unsanitary” living and hygienic conditions
“The children were lining up to get half a bottle of water, there were only drops falling from the tap,” relates the Italian-Swiss civil servant, who has held his position since 2020.
“This reality in this school where the living and hygienic conditions are totally unsanitary is amplified across the Gaza Strip where there are more than 750,000 people in United Nations facilities,” which describes the situation as “unworthy “. According to the latest report from the Islamist movement Hamas, which administers the Gaza Strip, more than 10,800 people have died, including more than 4,400 children, since October 7. During a humanitarian conference on Gaza at the Elysée this Thursday, France announced that it would allocate an additional 80 million euros this year to humanitarian aid intended for the Palestinian populations, bringing the aid budget to 100 million.