‘LET IN THE TRUCKS’ United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) demanded yesterday.
Adnan Abu Hasna, UNRWA’s media advisor, demanded that Israel ceases to block the entry of around 6,000 trucks loaded with food, medicine, tents, and blankets into Gaza, enough to sustain the population for at least three months.
He noted that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled just two days ago that the agency is a neutral UN body and Israel must facilitate the entry of humanitarian assistance, especially that provided by UNWRA.
Despite this, Israel’s public broadcaster quoted a senior government official as saying that the Israeli authorities do not intend to allow UNRWA to resume operations inside Gaza.
Responding, Abu Hasna said that UNRWA ‘is not a body under the authority of the Israeli government. It derives its mandate from the UN General Assembly and operates under its resolutions.’
He said the agency continues to function in Gaza despite the Israeli ban imposed since January 2025.
It currently employs more than 12,000 staff members, 8,000 of whom are teachers educating around 300,000 students, and 1,300 healthcare workers who have supervised over 10 million medical visits since October 2023. Hundreds of others work in food distribution and logistical support.
Abu Hasna emphasised that all attempts to replace UNRWA have failed, referencing the short-lived ‘Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’, and reaffirmed that UNRWA remains the only body with the data and logistical infrastructure capable of serving Gaza’s refugees.
He further noted that the agency’s mandate can only be changed by the UN General Assembly, which is set to review its renewal in December.
‘Anyone seeking to alter our role should go to the General Assembly,’ he said. ‘We will continue to fulfill our duties.’
The UNRWA spokesman warned that halting the agency’s services in Gaza would have ‘catastrophic consequences,’ as it is a lifeline for millions of Palestinians, providing essential health care, education, sanitation, water, shelter, and psychosocial support.
With the ceasefire in effect, UNRWA has launched comprehensive plans to restore education by reopening schools and expanding in-person learning to accommodate 10,000 additional students.
In the health sector, the agency is reviving medical centres and has established mobile clinics that now treat about 17,000 patients daily.
Before the genocide began, UNRWA operated 22 fixed health centres across Gaza.
- The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor (Euro-Med) yesterday condemned Israel’s continued obstruction of forensic investigations, as the occupation refuses to allow the entry of equipment and materials necessary for body recovery, autopsies, and DNA testing.
This, the group said, has left hundreds of bodies unidentified, depriving families of their basic right to know the fate of their loved ones and bury them with dignity.
Euro-Med noted that this includes around 195 bodies handed over by Israel without any identifying information or explanation of the circumstances of death.
Many of them bore unmistakable signs of torture, field execution, and extrajudicial killing, including those who were forcibly disappeared or detained before being killed.
