The Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, warned in an exclusive interview with Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper of the dire consequences of the international community's disregard for the ongoing humanitarian tragedy affecting more than two million people in the Gaza Strip. Lazzarini emphasized that the continuation of this catastrophic situation not only impacts the present but also directly contributes to sowing the seeds of future generations of anger and despair, threatening the future stability of the entire region.
The humanitarian context and the worsening crisis
Lazzarini's remarks come at a time when the Gaza Strip is experiencing an unprecedented deterioration in living and humanitarian conditions as a result of ongoing military operations and a crippling blockade. Residents are suffering from severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, along with widespread destruction of infrastructure and homes. UN reports indicate that the vast majority of the Strip's population has been displaced from their homes and is living in conditions that lack the most basic necessities for human life, a situation the UN official described as fertile ground for growing frustration and anger.
UNRWA: A threatened lifeline
UNRWA is the backbone of humanitarian work in Gaza, providing education, health, and relief services to millions of refugees for decades. However, the agency faces existential challenges in the form of funding shortages and political pressure aimed at curtailing its role. Observers warn that any collapse of the agency's operations would create a dangerous vacuum, as no other entity is capable of filling the enormous gap in essential services upon which the population depends for survival.
Future and regional implications
Lazzarini pointed out that the real danger lies in the long-term psychological and social impact on children and young people in Gaza. The denial of education, constant exposure to trauma, and the loss of hope for the future all contribute to a collective consciousness steeped in anger. Experts believe that ignoring these realities will only lead to renewed cycles of violence that could extend beyond the borders of the Gaza Strip, affecting regional and international security. The international community is now, more than ever, called upon to intervene not only to provide urgent humanitarian aid, but also to create a political horizon that ends this suffering and prevents Gaza from becoming a permanent hotbed of despair and extremism.
