The TWO BILLION DOLLARS a week that Donald Trump was spending on his reckless war in Iran could have funded saving more than 87 million lives, the head of the UN’s humanitarian agency, Tom Fletcher, said on Monday. He also warned the normalisation of violent language, such as threatening to bomb Iran back to the stone ages, was very dangerous since it encourages every “wannabe autocrat” to use similar threats and tactics, including the destruction of civilians and civilian infrastructure.

The funeral of Mohammad Taha Jafari, who lost his life in the bombing of Shajarat al-Tayyiba Primary School, is held in Minab, Iran, on 30 March 2026. Photograph: Hamid Vakili/Anadolu via Getty Images

US spending on ‘reckless’ Iran war could have saved 87m lives, says UN

Head of UN’s humanitarian agency frustrated that $2bn weekly cost of conflict comes amid big cuts to aid budgets

The $2bn (£1.5bn) a week that Donald Trump was spending on his reckless war in Iran could have funded saving more than 87 million lives, the head of the UN’s humanitarian agency, Tom Fletcher, said on Monday.

He also warned the normalisation of violent language, such as threatening to bomb Iran back to the stone ages, was very dangerous since it encourages every “wannabe autocrat” to use similar threats and tactics, including the destruction of civilians and civilian infrastructure.

Speaking at Chatham House in London, Fletcher, a former UK diplomat and adviser on foreign policy to successive prime ministers, also accused British politicians of forming a circular firing squad for more than 10 years which has left the UK in a “defensive crouch”.

The scale of the recent UK aid cuts had been so severe that people giggle at conferences where the UK claims to be thought leaders on the subject, he said, before later adding the judgment might seem harsh.

Fletcher, the undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator and head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, is wrestling with a humanitarian aid funding crisis he described as cataclysmic, amounting to a 50% cut in his budget.

This is driven not just by the US but also by international cuts to overseas aid driven by a mix of ideology and demands from defence budgets.

He said the war in Iran was having a ripple effect across the globe and predicted that, with food and fuel inflation reaching close to 20%, “we will feel the impact for years in sub-Saharan Africa and east Africa pushing way more people into poverty”.... READ MORE   https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/20/us-spending-on-reckless-iran-war-could-have-saved-87m-lives-says-un

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Israel has the obligation to ensure access to the essential supplies of daily life, including food, water, medical supplies and services, and to facilitate the work of UNRWA in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem where Israel is not entitled to exercise sovereignty...

UNRWA

@UNRWA

 

“The plug has been pulled on humanitarian services. 

 

Over the past days, utility providers have severed electricity and water one by one to UNRWA’s schools, health centres, and other service provision points across occupied #EastJerusalem. 

 

These actions come against the backdrop of the anti-UNRWA laws amended late last month by the Israeli parliament, forcing utility providers to suspend services to UNRWA. 

 

We need electricity to light up classrooms and offices, to keep life-sustaining medication cooled, and to heat buildings. 

 

We need water to keep our premises clean, and simply to wash hands. 

 

Electricity and water are among the basic preconditions of dignified healthcare and education. 

 

In October last year, the @‌CIJ_ICJ ruled that Israel has the obligation to ensure access to the essential supplies of daily life, including food, water, medical supplies and services, and to facilitate the work of UNRWA in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem where Israel is not entitled to exercise sovereignty. 

 

It further noted that the Israeli laws were impeding UNRWA’s operations. 

 

The amendments take these Israeli laws a step further. 

 

These cuts are a deliberate effort to weaponise basic necessities in the attacks by Israel – a @‌UN member state – against UNRWA, at the expense of critical services and access to fundamental rights for #Palestine Refugees. They are designed to end our longstanding presence in East Jerusalem, which in itself predates the Israeli occupation.” —

 

@GRFriedrich , Director of UNRWA Affairs in the Occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem

 https://x.com/UNRWA/status/2017150407751901274

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"The deregistration of 37 INGOs undermines principled humanitarian action, endangers staff and communities, and compromises effective aid delivery." "Ensuring access to humanitarian aid is a legal obligation, not a discretionary choice.”

B'Tselem בצלם بتسيلم

@btselem

B’Tselem joins the Statement by 19 Israel-based human rights organizations on the deregistration of INGOs: 

“The deregistration of 37 INGOs undermines principled humanitarian action, endangers staff and communities, and compromises effective aid delivery." 

"Ensuring access to humanitarian aid is a legal obligation, not a discretionary choice.” 

 https://x.com/btselem/status/2006644225996173530

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"Since the “ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip took effect on 10 October 2025, Israel has killed at least 345 Palestinians there, including at least 119 children, and wounded about 889. The World Food Programme (WFP) reported this past week that it managed to bring into the Strip only about two-thirds of its planned aid and could provide food to just 500,000 people – roughly 30% of its target. The main obstacles are Israel’s draconian bureaucratic restrictions on aid organizations and its ongoing refusal to open the crossings. According to reports, during the 45 days since the “ceasefire” was declared, Israel has demolished roughly 1,500 structures across the Strip, in violation of the agreement. With the sewage system in ruins and heavy rain in mid-November, many IDP tent camps have flooded. Most people in Gaza are homeless, hungry and lacking access to basic services, yet world leaders are standing by, issuing empty statements and enabling the normalization of this unbearable reality. The international community must act now to ensure protection for Palestinians, the immediate entry of humanitarian aid, and accountability for those responsible for the genocide." B'Tselem בצלם بتسيلم

B'Tselem בצלם بتسيلم

 

@btselem

 

Since the “ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip took effect on 10 October 2025, Israel has killed at least 345 Palestinians there, including at least 119 children, and wounded about 889. 

 

The World Food Programme (WFP) reported this past week that it managed to bring into the Strip only about two-thirds of its planned aid and could provide food to just 500,000 people – roughly 30% of its target. 

 

The main obstacles are Israel’s draconian bureaucratic restrictions on aid organizations and its ongoing refusal to open the crossings. 

 

According to reports, during the 45 days since the “ceasefire” was declared, Israel has demolished roughly 1,500 structures across the Strip, in violation of the agreement. 

 

With the sewage system in ruins and heavy rain in mid-November, many IDP tent camps have flooded. 

 

Most people in Gaza are homeless, hungry and lacking access to basic services, yet world leaders are standing by, issuing empty statements and enabling the normalization of this unbearable reality. 

 

The international community must act now to ensure protection for Palestinians, the immediate entry of humanitarian aid, and accountability for those responsible for the genocide.

 https://x.com/btselem/status/1993350142963921073

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Humanitarian principles & UNRWA

Humanitarian principles

Endorsed by UN General Assembly Resolutions 46/182 and 58/114, humanitarian principles guide the work of all actors working in the humanitarian sphere. As an Agency with a humanitarian mandate – to assist and protect Palestine refugees – humanitarian principles provide the space to make our work possible. From ensuring the sanctity of our shelters in times of crisis, to maintaining access to the most vulnerable populations, to advocating on behalf of Palestine refugees, the principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence are at the heart of all UNRWA operations.

The four principles together drive humanitarian action. A humanitarian response requires a focus on humanity, placing those in need at the centre and addressing suffering wherever it is found, respecting the dignity and fundamental rights of beneficiaries. It requires UNRWA to be impartial and provide a response based on independent assessments of need without distinction, neutral to allow operations on all sides and among various parties, and independent to make its own decisions in shaping operations.  https://www.unrwa.org/humanitarian-principles

 

"The UN agency entrusted with the protection and welfare of Palestine refugees for three-quarters of a century, Unrwa, which I lead, was always meant to be temporary. The conclusion of its mandate was foreseen at its establishment. The choice before us today is whether to jettison a decades-long investment in human development and human rights by chaotically dismantling the agency overnight, or pursue an orderly political process in which Unrwa continues to provide millions of Palestine refugees with education and healthcare until empowered Palestinian institutions take over these services." Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of Unrwa*   https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/dec/20/unrwa-stop-saving-lives-gaza-israel-un-agency

*Resolution 194

1940s- April - August 1948: More than 700,000 Palestine refugees are displaced as a result of the 1948 War.

The United Nations General Assembly adopts resolution 194 (III), resolving that “refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible.”

Resolution 302

8th December 1949

UNRWA is created by General Assembly resolution 302 (IV), with the initial mandate to provide “direct relief and works programmes” to Palestine refugees, in order to “prevent conditions of starvation and distress… and to further conditions of peace and stability”. UNRWA takes over from the United Nations Relief for Palestine Refugees (UNRPR), established in 1948. 

1940s

 https://www.unrwa.org/content/resolution-302

READ MORE re Mandate:

In response to developments in the region, the General Assembly repeatedly extends and expands the UNRWA mandate, requiring the Agency to engage in a wide variety of humanitarian, development and protection activities based on the needs of beneficiaries.

General Assembly resolution 614 (VII), in 1952, notes a need for “increased relief expenditures” in the UNRWA budget. In 1955, resolution 916 (X) notes the "serious need of other claimants for relief […] namely, the frontier villagers in Jordan, the non-refugee population of the Gaza Strip, a number of refugees in Egypt, and certain of the Bedouin”. General Assembly resolutions in 1958 and 1959 recommend that the Agency increase programmes relating to education, vocational training and self-support, an emphasis that will become an important blueprint for the Agency.

Following the hostilities of June 1967, in which 300,000 people, including some 120,000 Palestine refugees, are rendered homeless or leave their homes, resolution 2252 (ES-V) asks UNRWA to “continue to provide humanitarian assistance… on an emergency basis, and as a temporary measure, to persons in the area who are currently displaced and in serious need of continued assistance”. In later years, the General Assembly repeatedly restates the Agency’s mandate for those displaced in 1967, and, after the invasion of Lebanon by Israel in 1982, extends it to encompass those displaced by “subsequent hostilities.” In the same year, resolution 37/120 (J) explicitly adds protection to the list of UNRWA responsibilities, urging the Agency to “undertake effective measures to guarantee the safety and security and the legal and human rights of the Palestinian refugees in the occupied territories.”

From 1992 to 2002, UNRWA collaborates with the Office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) and other specialized agencies of the United Nations system to contribute to the development of economic and social stability in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). In 1993, after Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) sign the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements, UNRWA begins developing its Peace Implementation Programme, which works “to meet Palestinian requests for assistance and priorities” during the interim period; General Assembly resolution 49/35 (1994) notes its “significant success.”

While other agencies and actors have the central role in arriving at a resolution of the Palestine refugee issue, UNRWA is mandated to work with governments on interim measures and to provide relief and assistance to Palestine refugees “pending the just resolution” of the Palestine refugee question.  The role UNRWA plays in the region has evolved to reflect the needs and pressures of the times, but the Agency’s central mandate remains largely unchanged: UNRWA protects and assists Palestine refugees, seeking to help them achieve their full potential in human development.  

 

https://www.unrwa.org/resources/strategy-policy/unrwa-and-sustainable-development-goals-sdgs

UNRWA and SDG 1: No Poverty

Poverty eradication and respect for human rights, central pillars of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), are at the core of the Agency’s human development, humanitarian and protection work. By investing in the human capital of Palestine refugees, UNRWA actively contributes to the realization of the 2030 Agenda. As the largest direct service provider to Palestine refugees in its areas of operations, the impact of UNRWA is concrete and sustained, with the following Sustainable Development Goals central to our work: SDG 1: No Poverty; SDG 2: Zero Hunger; SDG 3 Good Health and Well-Being; SDG 4: Quality Education; SDG 5: Gender Equality; SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation; SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth; SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities; SDG 13: Climate Action; and SDG17: Partnerships.

UNRWA joins the global effort to promote the SDGs through the “Decade of Action” and, in particular, the work UNRWA has done over the past 70 years. To learn more, view our factsheet on “UNRWA and the SDGs” 

 

Palestine refugees

Who is UNRWA mandated to serve?

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UNRWA is mandated by the UN General Assembly to serve ‘Palestine refugees’. This term was defined in 1952 as any person whose "normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948 and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict." Palestine refugees are persons who fulfil the above definition and descendants of fathers fulfilling the definition. Read the full eligibility rules (Arabic PDF) or learn more here.

In addition to Palestine refugees, the UN General Assembly has also mandated UNRWA to offer services to certain other persons who require humanitarian assistance, on an emergency basis as and when required, in UNRWA fields of operations. Notably, the General Assembly has mandated the Agency to provide services to persons in the region who are currently displaced and in serious need of continued assistance as a result of the 1967 and subsequent hostilities. These persons are not registered as Palestine refugees. Only the UN General Assembly can change the mandate of UNRWA, the definition of a Palestine refugee and whom the Agency is mandated to serve.  https://www.unrwa.org/who-we-are/frequently-asked-questions

"A ripple effect- They may not have reached Gaza's shores, but the crew still delievered... For the first time sine October 2023 Palestinain could fish without being shot at by the Israeli navy (they've been too busy chasing the flotillas)."

OFFICIAL UPDATE FROM GLOBAL SUMUD FLOTILLA 

Organization CONFIRMS the Israeli naval forces illegally intercepted and boarded the Global Sumud Flotilla’s vessel Sirius along with other boats in international waters. 

 38 PEOPLE from 16 COUNTRIES KIDNAPPED

The people of Gaza thank the Global Sumud Flotilla for giving them an opportunity to fish by distracting the occupation forces whose mission is genocide by hunger.

 Global Sumud Flotilla Commentary

@Globalsumudf

 

Images of activists Rima Hassan and Greta Thunberg have emerged as they are being deported — both smiling defiantly. 

 

Their courage exposes the injustice of a system that deports those bringing aid, while protecting those enforcing an illegal siege. 

 

You can detain people, but you can’t deport the truth

 

Middle East Eye

@MiddleEastEye

“From the sea to Gaza - we will not forget you. We will not let you be forgotten. This is the voice of humanity.” 

 

These were the last words recorded from the Marinette, the last active boat of the Global Sumud Flotilla, before Israeli forces intercepted them on Friday. 

 

With roughly 500 participants from different countries aboard at least 42 vessels, the Global Sumud Flotilla set out carrying humanitarian aid in an historic effort to open up a humanitarian corridor in the Gaza strip.   

 

It was the largest civilian-led initiative ever to try and break Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza.   https://x.com/MiddleEastEye/status/1974069720119656459

  

 

Israeli Embassy in Athens under siege last night as the city comes out to protest the holocaust in Gaza and the IDF kidnapping of comrades on the Global Flotilla.