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“There’s no doubt I have mixed feelings today,” he said. “Bitterness, because I was on the front line for the last two years of extraordinary violations of international law, witnessing atrocities, attacks on the UN; sadness, because so many of our colleagues were killed – almost 400 people in two years – that has never been seen in the history of the UN.
“But, there is also a certain pride, because over the last two years, I’ve seen how our staff…is extraordinarily committed to trying to alleviate the suffering of some in their own community”.
Air attacks on Gaza continue. (submit)
After October 7
In addition to being the face of an organization that is constantly scolded and accused online of collaborating with Hamas fighters in Gaza, the 62-year-old Swiss citizen has witnessed the devastating impact of Israel’s war on the enclave’s society and its institutions, sparked by a Hamas-led terror attack on Israel, in October 2023.
A high-level UN investigation into the allegations UNRWA found that of the 19 staff members accused of involvement in terror attacks, one case was found to have no supporting evidence and the other nine cases did not have enough evidence to show involvement.
In nine other cases, evidence suggested that UNRWA staff may have been involved in the October 7 attacks, at which point the agency announced that they would be fired.
Today, the misery and death in the Gaza Strip continues, with one encounter in Gaza from the start of the conflict that is particularly hard to forget, despite Lazzarini’s years of work in conflict situations around the world, from Angola to Iraq and Somalia to South Sudan.
Haunted by hunger with human eyes
“It was a young girl I met in Rafah four weeks after the war and I saw her with empty eyes, even asking for a sip of water, a piece of bread, at the school where she used to be a student. [that] should be a place of joy and education a place of misery and refuge for these young girls. And I have to say, I am haunted by this, because I have children the same age.”
And although there is a ceasefire in Gaza between Hamas fighters and Israel at the moment, this is “in name only”, he emphasized, many people are still being killed because they do not know where the border shifts between them and the Israeli military.
“It’s nothing but misery,” he continued. “We may be able to turn the tide of worsening famine in Gaza, but there is nothing that can be done. People still live in the ruinsstill waiting for hours to get clean water. They fought and fought against the disease.”
Children wait to be served a hot meal at a public kitchen in Gaza.
There is no real alternative
In the midst of this suffering, Lazzarini rejected the notion that there was another body that could replace UNRWA. “You have no alternative in Gaza,” he stressed. “UNRWA is the only organization that has human resources, expertise and public trust in the fields of public health, education services.. There are no NGOs or other UN organizations. But we also know that the Palestinian Authority is not ready to take over these services.”
In addition to attacks on UNRWA staff and hundreds of the agency’s buildings in Gaza, its ability to provide essential services in Gaza and beyond has also been damaged. severely limited by the lack of financial support from the international community to match the three-year extension of its mandate passed by the UN General Assembly last December.
Running on empty
Despite austerity measures – including a reduction in services and a 20 per cent pay cut for most local staff – Mr. Lazzarini against President of the General Assembly that UNRWA “may no longer be able to survive” without cash still stands. But political support is also invaluable, and not just for the survival of the institution, he explained.
“The attack on UNRWA is not an exception, it cannot be handled in isolation. If we tolerate institutions like ours, other institutions will follow. And that’s what happened in Gaza: UN agencies are accused of being infiltrated by Hamas to justify actions against them…And now we hear the exact same narrative, we see the same pattern applied in Lebanon.”
UNRWA teams in Gaza City continue to provide medical services.
Israel’s ‘silent war’ in the West Bank
Outside Gaza, the dire situation facing Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and facing increased Israeli settler attacks also highlights the “silent war” being waged there “in total impunity”, Lazzarini continued.
In January, Israeli bulldozers moved into UNRWA’s headquarters in East Jerusalem and began demolishing buildings there, while an Israeli flag was raised over the UN compound – an act strongly condemned as a violation of international law by the global organization.
“When we talk about, you know, respect for international law, we have seen that this is a blatant insult and disregard – the fact that everything has been done without respect for the rules of war – has now also allowed the conflict to spread to Iran without any justification for starting a large-scale war that impacts the entire region.,” stressed the UNRWA chairman.
Many families are fleeing their homes in the West Bank due to the ongoing increase in violence. (submit)
‘Extreme pressure’
Despite the global turmoil around the world, in Geneva, Lazzarini appeared relaxed. In his waxed coat, suede shoes, jacket and tie, he could easily be mistaken for a tourist visiting the Palace of Nations, rather than a high-ranking diplomat as comfortable in the corridors of power as he strode across the front lines. But clothes were probably the last thing on his mind.
Admitting that he had faced “extreme pressure” from attacks on himself and UNRWA in the past two years, the top UN diplomat cited his family’s support as one of the main reasons why he was able to continue working.
“I was absent for the last two years,” he said, adding firmly that once he leaves UNRWA, his plans include catching up “to get back” his wife and children, as well as writing about his experiences leading a UN agency whose future depends on geopolitics.
