UNRWA chief confident he is on 'right side of history' Geneva (AFP) – UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini acknowledges that it has been "stressful" leading the embattled UN agency for Palestinian refugees, but says he is confident he is "on the right side of history".

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250317-unrwa-chief-confident-he-is-on-right-side-of-history

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"....  Israel in January took the unprecedented step of severing ties with the UN agency and banning it from operating on Israeli soil.

While UNRWA can still operate in Gaza and the West Bank, it has been barred from contact with Israeli officials, making it difficult to coordinate the safe delivery of aid in the Palestinian territories.

No aid is meanwhile going into Gaza, since Israel halted deliveries to the Strip amid a deadlock over a fragile ceasefire.

"This decision threatens the life and survival of civilians in Gaza," Lazzarini warned.

'Damocles sword'

He also described the situation in the West Bank, where Israel has for weeks been carrying out a major offensive, "deeply, deeply troubling".

While uncertain how things would evolve, he said the threat of an Israeli annexation of the West Bank was hanging like "a Damocles sword over the head of the Palestinians (and) the international community".

Philippe Lazzarini said he feels he is 'on the right side of history' © Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP

Israel has said that UNRWA can be replaced by other UN agencies or NGOs.

But Lazzarini argued that while other organisations could handle distributing humanitarian aid, they could not replace UNRWA's delivery of "government-like services" such as education and healthcare.

Without UNRWA, "we would definitely sacrifice a generation of kids, who would be deprived from proper education", he warned.

'Voiceless'

Education should also be a top priority for Israel, he insisted.

"If you deprive 100,000 girls and boys in Gaza (of an) education, and if they have no future, and if their school is just despair and living in the rubble, I would say we are just sowing the seeds for more extremism."

Israel has for years accused UNRWA schools teaching anti-Semitism and a hatred of Israel.

Lazzarini decried "an extraordinary war of disinformation" against the agency.

Lazzarini, who himself has been the target of virulent attacks, acknowledged that "certainly I don't read everything and don't listen to everything".

"Otherwise you wouldn't sleep anymore."

He added: "If I didn't feel that I am still on the right side of history, I don't think I would continue to carry on."

But, he said, "I have been given a voice, and obviously I need to use this voice".

"That is the minimum we owe to the Palestinian refugees who are pretty voiceless."