{"id":293665,"date":"2024-02-22T17:06:32","date_gmt":"2024-02-22T22:06:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?post_type=document&p=293665"},"modified":"2024-02-22T17:06:32","modified_gmt":"2024-02-22T22:06:32","slug":"letter-from-the-commissioner-general-to-ga-22feb-2024","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/letter-from-the-commissioner-general-to-ga-22feb-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"“I fear we are on the edge of a monumental disaster with grave implications for regional peace, security, and human rights” – Letter from the UNRWA Commissioner-General to the President of the UN General Assembly"},"content":{"rendered":"

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22 February 2024<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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His Excellency Mr. Dennis Francis, President of the\u00a0General Assembly, New York<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Dear Mr. President,<\/strong><\/p>\n

On 7 December 2023, I sent you a letter stating that the situation in Gaza was limiting UNRWA\u2019s ability to implement its mandate, with grave humanitarian and political implications. It is with profound regret that I must now inform you that the Agency has reached breaking point, with Israel\u2019s repeated calls to dismantle UNRWA and the freezing of funding by donors at a time of unprecedented humanitarian needs in Gaza. The Agency\u2019s ability to fulfil the mandate given through General Assembly resolution 302 is now seriously threatened.<\/p>\n

In just over four months in Gaza there have been more children, more journalists, more medical personnel, and more UN staff killed than anywhere in the world during a conflict. Over 150 UNRWA premises have been hit by bombardment or shelling, killing over 390 people, and injuring over 1300. Many reports of UN premises being used by Hamas combatants or by the Israeli army are circulating on social media. The last remaining hospitals are collapsing, and doctors amputate children\u2019s limbs without anesthetic, which puts pain at a new level for children, their parents, and medical personnel. According to UN experts, famine is imminent.<\/p>\n

It is in this context that on 26 January 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a legally binding provisional ruling that regarding Palestinians in Gaza, Israel must \u201ctake all measures within its power to prevent the Commission of all acts within the scope of Article II\u201d1<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, as well as \u201cimmediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to address the adverse conditions of life faced by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip\u201d2<\/sup>.<\/a><\/p>\n

In the week preceding the ruling of the ICJ, the Israeli authorities informed me that 12 of UNRWA\u2019s 30,000 agency-wide staff were allegedly involved in the horrific attack on 7 October. As Commissioner General, I immediately dismissed the concerned staff, thus terminating their contractual connection to UNRWA. The UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) was seized of the matter and the Secretary-General launched an independent review of how UNRWA upholds neutrality principles \u2013 the conclusions and recommendations are expected by the end of April 2024. I continue to call on the Government of Israel to cooperate with the OIOS investigation to independently establish the truth. To date, no evidence has been shared by Israel with UNRWA.<\/p>\n

In reaction to the allegations against UNRWA staff, 16 donor countries announced the pausing or temporary suspension of their contributions to UNRWA, totaling US $ 450 million, pending reassurances on the Agency\u2019s response and strengthening of its oversight mechanisms. I have cautioned donors and host countries that without new funding, UNRWA operations across the region will be severely compromised from March.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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As a humanitarian and human development agency, UNRWA does not have counterintelligence, police, or criminal justice capacities. Like all UN entities worldwide, UNRWA must rely on host governments, or in this case on Israel as the occupying power, for these capacities. With a view to supporting its neutrality, UNRWA systematically shares its staff list with the host governments in its five fields of operation, and in the case of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, also with the Israeli authorities. When we have detected cavities that could be tunnels under our premises, we have consistently informed the Israeli authorities, protested to the de facto authorities, and listed the concerns in my reports to the General Assembly.<\/p>\n

Mr. President,<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since the ICJ ruling, there has been a concerted effort by some Israeli officials to deceptively conflate UNRWA with Hamas, to disrupt UNRWA\u2019s operations, and to call for the dismantling of the Agency:<\/p>\n