Israel endangers UNRWA staff by 'spread of disinformation': Lazzarini
The UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) says a misinformation campaign, led by the Israeli regime, has exacerbated security risks for staff members in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.
Speaking at a press conference at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, the agency’s head Philippe Lazzarini said that “concerted efforts are ongoing to dismantle the agency including through the spread of disinformation.”
“Billboards and ads accusing UNRWA of terrorism have appeared in major cities around the world.”
"Google ad campaigns re-direct those seeking information about the Agency to websites replete with disinformation. This puts the lives of the UNRWA personnel at risk, especially in the West Bank and in Gaza," he said.
Lazzarini said at least 273 UNRWA employees have been killed in the West Bank and Gaza since October 2023. “UNRWA is a casualty of this war.”
The UN agency, which is considered the backbone of humanitarian operations for Palestinians, provides aid to some six million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria.
“In the occupied West Bank, our staff remains on the ground,” Lazzarini said. “We are providing education for 50,000 boys and girls in UNRWA schools."
Lazzarini said that the agency’s “health centers are open and running” despite Israel’s ban on the UNRWA’s activities in the occupied territories.
In late January, a law passed by Israel's Knesset in October banned UNRWA from operating on Israeli-occupied territories, including in occupied al-Quds.
Lazzarinin has once again reiterated that “dismantling UNRWA will only deepen the suffering of Palestine refugees, it will not cancel their refugee status.”
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