• I keep saying UNRWA cannot be replaced by other international NGOs or UN agencies. It can only be replaced by a functioning, empowered Palestinian institution within the state of Palestine: Lazzarini

Arab News Japan

TOKYO: The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is facing a crisis, UNRWA’s Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini told Arab News Japan on Wednesday.

“The agency is at a crossroad because of the adverse and hostile environment we are confronted with, but also because of the financial situation,” Lazzarini told Arab News Japan in Tokyo.

He said the agency is in danger of “imploding. If we implode without an alternative, what does it mean? That means more misery, more distress, and this would be a recipe for sowing the seeds for more violence, not only in the occupied Palestinian territory, but it would also send shockwaves in the neighboring countries.”

Lazzarini says the answer is for the relevant parties to be “genuinely committed” to a political solution and for UNRWA to be involved, as he says the agency will be an essential part of the transition.

“I keep saying UNRWA cannot be replaced by other international NGOs or UN agencies,” Lazzarini emphasized. “It can only be replaced by a functioning, empowered Palestinian institution within the state of Palestine.”

The UNRWA boss was in Japan, with which it has had a long-standing partnership, to meet Prime Minister ISHIBA Shigeru and Foreign Minister IWAYA Takeshi and other lawmakers to reaffirm support for the agency.

“We discussed the situation in Gaza, which is beyond imagination,” Lazzarini said. “We discussed the man-made hunger created by the siege, which could be addressed politically. We also discussed about the situation in the West Bank, where we have the longer lasting military operation, and where we have also seen the biggest displacement of Palestinians since 1967.”