Edited News , Press Conferences
STORYLINE
“This is a make-or-break moment for all of us and our shared humanity,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Lazzarini
Returning from his third visit to Gaza since the war started, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, said on Thursday that “every time I see more misery, grief and sadness”.
Briefing journalists in Geneva 69 days since the Israeli bombardment began in response to the 7 October Hamas terror attacks in southern Israel, Mr. Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General, said that in in southern Rafah governorate, “basically, the lucky ones are those who have a place inside our premises and especially now that winter has just started. But the others have absolutely nowhere to go, they live in the open, they live in the cold, in the mud and under the rain. Everywhere you look is congested with makeshift shelters, everywhere you go people are desperate, hungry and are terrified.”
From the sidelines of the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva, Mr. Lazzarini explained that he saw people stopping aid trucks, offloading food and eating it immediately.
“This has nothing to do with aid diversion, this is something which has to do with a total despair the people are expressing in the Gaza Strip,” he said. “Hunger is something people in Gaza have never ever known before. But hunger has now emerged over the last few weeks and we meet more and more people who haven’t eaten for one, two or three days.”
With more than one million people looking for shelter there, Mr. Lazzarini said that UNRWA facilities are massively overcrowded.
“What continues to shock me is the ever-increasing level of dehumanization, the lack of empathy and humanity, the fact that people can laugh, cheer and mock and any type of wrongdoing that we observe in this war when in fact, what is happening in Gaza, should outrage anyone, should make us all rethink our values. Think, this is also a make-or-break moment for all of us and for our shared humanity,” he said, in reference to inflammatory social media posts.
Urging the media to help, Mr. Lazzarini said that he was “horrified at the smear campaign that targets Palestinians and those who provide aid to them. And on that, I am asking you to help us to push back against misinformation and inaccuracies...Fact-checking is absolutely key if we want accurate information.”
Mr. Lazzarini reiterated his call for the opening of the Kerem Shalom crossing which handled the daily passage of hundreds of commercial trucks before it was shut on 7 October.
“We are confronted with an unprecedented war, […] a war of all possible superlatives, in terms of destruction, in terms of the number of people killed, in terms of needs, in terms of displacement, and more than ever, countries with a human tradition should continue to express their solidarity, and today the main agency in the Gaza Strip is UNRWA.” He reminded that should UNRWA collapse, “the entire humanitarian system in the Gaza Strip would collapse.”
Mr. Lazzarini concluded his briefing by saying that “in suffering there’s absolutely no competition and I believe that ultimately in this war there will be no winner.” He added that “the longer this war goes on, the largest loss, but beyond that, the deeper the grief. […] There is absolutely no alternative to a proper, genuine political process to end once for all the longest lasting unresolved conflict. 75 years without a solution.”
-ends-
STORY: Gaza situation update – UNRWA
TRT: 04:07”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 14 December 2023 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
2
1
1
Statements , Conferences , Edited News | HRC , OCHA , UNOG
A record 383 aid workers were killed last year with hundreds more wounded, kidnapped and detained, the UN’s top aid official said on Tuesday in a call for accountability, at a solemn ceremony in Geneva to mark World Humanitarian Day.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan made the following statement at today’s biweekly press briefing in Geneva:
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
“In Gaza, the Israeli army has intensified its attacks in the north of the strip,” UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan told the biweekly press briefing in Geneva on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNOG , WHO , OCHA , OHCHR
Alessandra Vellucci of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, attended by spokespersons and representatives of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the World Health Organization.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , OCHA
Gaza: Aid insufficient to avert ‘widespread starvation’ as Israeli military ramp-up forces more people to flee
The small trickle of aid entering Gaza is totally insufficient to alleviate starvation and displacement in the Strip, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | OCHA , WHO
Rolando Gómez of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, attended by spokespersons and representatives of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the World Health Organization.
1
1
1
Press Conferences , Statements | UNEP
After 10 days of UN talks on plastic pollution, no consensus was reached; negotiations to continue.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Gaza: Hospitals continue to overflow with people injured while seeking food - WHO
As besieged Palestinian civilians face widespread malnutrition and starvation, hospitals in the Strip are increasingly overwhelmed by the influx of victims of shootings and other injuries at food distribution areas, warns the World Health Organization.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | WHO
Rolando Gómez, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section at the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, which was attended by representatives from the United Nations Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar and the World Health Organization.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | OHCHR
Launch of IIMM’s Annual Report detailing its progress in investigating serious international crimes committed in Myanmar, including advances in identifying perpetrators.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNEP
Press Conference - Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC-5.2)
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , WHO , UNMAS
Urgent help is needed to halt a deadly cholera outbreak that is sweeping across Sudan, UN agencies said on Friday, while warning that communities continue to be terrorized by parties to the conflict even as they flee violence.