Gaza is suffering from famine and is at “serious risk of genocide”, according to the International Court of Justice. However, the situation of the population of the Palestinian enclave, “already catastrophic”, risks getting worse, underlines Pierre Motin, advocacy manager of the French NGO platform for Palestine. Ten countries have in fact announced since this weekend the suspension of their funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). Israel accuses employees of having been involved in the bloody Hamas attack on its soil on October 7.
UNRWA, which separated twelve of its employees, plays a central role in the humanitarian aid provided daily to residents harassed by bombings. Without its main funding, it will no longer be able to carry out its mission. It is the survival of the approximately two million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip that hangs in the balance.
A determining role for the survival of Gazans
The death toll in the Gaza Strip is increasing every day. According to figures from the Hamas Ministry of Health, on Monday it exceeded 26,600 deaths since October 7. Bombings and ground fighting also left 65,387 injured. Added to this catastrophe are ordinary illnesses, famine which threatens 50% of the population and difficulties linked to the lack of water and fuel. Because the Gaza Strip is under Israeli blockade and its population lacks everything. It then depends on humanitarian aid, which struggles to enter the territory, only to be distributed sparsely by the few organizations present on the ground.
The main and most important being UNRWA. “It is one of the most important actors in humanitarian aid” with more than 25,000 members, including 13,000 in the Gaza Strip, according to public data on his websiteemphasizes 20 minutes Jean-Raphaël Poitou, Middle East advocacy manager for Action Against Hunger. Its staff “knows the terrain and is one of the few capable of limiting the damage because it has worked for years in Gaza, it is a support for the survival of the population. The suspension of funding for this fundamental structure reduces the hope of survival of two million people,” adds Jean-François Corty, vice-president of Médecins du monde. “Without UNRWA, Gaza is heading towards the precipice,” insists Pierre Motin.
Humanitarian aid hampered
There is also the Palestinian Red Crescent, Doctors Without Borders or Doctors of the World but their missions are increasingly difficult to fulfill and their staff “increasingly constrained by bombings and population displacements and prevented by the blockade almost total imposed on the Gaza Strip,” explains Jean-François Corty. The bombings first on the north of the territory, then on the south, push humanitarian organizations to reorganize each time. Especially since they also count their deaths. UNRWA, for example, reported in mid-January that 146 of its members had been killed by bombings. “Today, given the extent of the needs, all humanitarian aid is necessary while there are almost no humanitarian actors,” summarizes Jean-François Corty.
UNRWA also has a comprehensive role. The UN agency “organizes aid, coordinates with other NGOs, manages schools and administrations,” explains Jean-Raphaël Poitou. Its shelters, overcrowded and unsanitary, have become home to more than 1.4 million people, according to the press release published by the UN agency on the occasion of the hundred days of war. “It’s the common thread that allows hundreds of thousands of people to survive, to just stay alive,” continues Pierre Motin. “To do without such a significant, decisive actor, when there is no real alternative, when the security conditions are deplorable, when the aid is not proportionate, this amounts to reducing the chances of survival of a population already on the brink of the abyss,” laments Jean-François Corty. More broadly, UNRWA helps all Palestinian refugees, also outside the Gaza Strip such as in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon… These are also the people who risk lacking the minimum to survive.
Incomprehension
The Western announcements then seem to contradict the order of the International Court of Justice addressed to Israel to “prevent and punish” incitement to “genocide” in Gaza. The agency announced an internal investigation to shed light on the accusations while twelve of its employees were dismissed. “We wonder why there is a consensus around pointing the finger at UNRWA, this is in line with the narrative of the most radical Israelis,” breathes Jean-François Corty, who is surprised by the “rush” of such decisions and denounces “a clear double standard”.
Especially since the agency for Palestinian refugees is still suffering from a decision taken by Donald Trump to cut off its resources in 2018. Despite the reactivation of funding upon the departure of the Republican president, the damage is done. “Its funding has been in poor shape for years,” confirms Pierre Motin, knowing that the United States is the main contributor. And in recent months, between bombs, blockades and famine, “needs have exploded,” he warns.