UN Palestinian refugee agency 'backbone' of humanitarian response: Official

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) is the "backbone" of the humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip, a UN deputy spokesman said on Friday.

"From our point of view, UNRWA, and we've said this many times, is the backbone of the humanitarian response, and we believe it to be irreplaceable," Farhan Haq told reporters.

His remarks came after UNRWA’s  chief Philippe Lazzarini said that the Israeli Knesset bill to ban the agency from operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is due to come into effect in less than four weeks.

"A collapse of its operations, should this legislation take effect, would lead to immense suffering for people already enduring extreme hardship," Haq said, adding UNRWA is committed to stay and deliver.

Since Oct. 2023, Haq said UNRWA has provided 6.7 million medical consultations in Gaza – over 1,600 consultations per day.

Some 730,000 people have received mental health and psychosocial support, thanks to UNRWA, he said, adding the agency vaccinated 560,000 children under the age of 10 against polio.

Nearly 2 million people have received food assistance, hundreds of thousands of displaced people have stayed in UNRWA shelters, he stressed.