Having endured more than two years of relentless physical, political and legal attacks, most fiercely in Palestine, Unrwa has reached breaking point. The risks to Palestinians' rights and the stability of the region are immense.
UN's Palestinian refugee agency cast into forced austerity: 600 staff members laid off, Gaza salaries cut by 20%, working hours reduced; aid access blocked amid worsening humanitarian crisis. Gaza City After 18 years as a teacher with an UNRWA-run school, Maryam Shaaban (name changed for safety reasons) fainted upon learning she was among 600 employees dismissed from their posts, the latest in a barrage of devastating blows borne out of Israel's genocidal war on the besieged enclave.
Israeli crews have started bulldozing the Jerusalem headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in Jerusalem and fired teargas at a UN vocational school in Qalandia, in the West Bank. Israel accuses the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (Unwra) of collaborating with Hamas a charge the agency denies and last year banned it from operating on its territory. The demolition marks Israel's latest step against Unrwa, which provides aid to millions of Palestinian refugees.
Israel announced on Friday that it has begun the "initial stages" of its siege on Gaza City, declaring the capital city a "dangerous combat zone" and ending its daytime pauses for the supposed purpose of allowing the passage of humanitarian aid, despite a famine declaration across the area last week. "We have begun the preliminary operations and the first stages of the attack on Gaza City, and already now IDF forces are holding the outskirts of Gaza City," Israel's military spokesperson told reporters.
