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GENEVA —The World Health Organization warns that defunding UNRWA, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, threatens to worsen the already dire situation of more than 2 million civilians in Gaza, many of whom are facing starvation, ill health and the threat of death from the spread of infectious diseases.
More than a dozen countries, including the United States, suspended funds to UNRWA following allegations that some of the agency's staff members participated in the invasion of Israel by Hamas militants October 7.
"Criminal activity can never go unpunished," said WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier on Tuesday, "but that discussion right now is a distraction from what is really going on every day, every hour, every minute in Gaza.
"It is a distraction from the more than 27,000 deaths right now, of which 70% are women and children," he said. "It is a distraction from preventing an entire population from access to clean water, food, shelter. It is a distraction from preventing electricity from coming into Gaza for more than 100 days."
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appealed to countries to resume their assistance to UNRWA to at least ensure continuity of its vital humanitarian operations. This appeal was echoed by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus who said, "Cutting off funding will only hurt the people in Gaza who desperately need support."
A statement issued Monday by 20 NGOs expressed dismay that some of the countries that had called for an increase in aid in Gaza have now suspended funds to UNRWA.
"We are shocked by the reckless decision to cut a lifeline for an entire population," they said. "UNRWA is the largest humanitarian agency in Gaza and their delivery of humanitarian assistance cannot be replaced by other agencies working in Gaza."
WHO spokesperson Lindmeier said, "UNRWA provides vital support to the population of Gaza, including in the health sector." He noted that before the conflict, UNRWA provided care for some 100,000 individuals with diabetes and hypertension, and for 40,000 pregnant women annually.
"The escalation of hostilities in Gaza made the continuation of such care extremely difficult, as daily life itself became untenable," he said, observing that the regular food supply and fresh water supply has been cut off Gaza for more than 100 days.
He said people are forced to drink water that "is mixed with wastewater as the pumping stations partially are not working for lack of fuel."
"The population is at the border of famine," he said, "and it is not getting better. It is getting worse by the day."
Lindmeier warned that a malnourished population cramped together in overcrowded makeshift shelters is highly susceptible to disease and infection. In such situations, he said "infections, rashes, and diseases can spread like wildfire."
Despite all the difficulties, Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that "UNRWA has not stopped working. UNRWA continues to work. It is the pipeline of funding that is in danger while it is irreplaceable in the humanitarian operation."
In its latest report, OCHA describes the intense Israeli bombardment across much of the Gaza Strip, calling hostilities "particularly intense in Khan Younis, with heavy fighting reported near Nasser and Al Amal hospitals."
The agency noted that Hamas rocket fire from Gaza into Israel has continued as well.
Spokesman Lindmeier said getting humanitarian aid into Gaza was becoming increasingly difficult due to security issues and logistics, explaining that two of three missions to Nasser Hospital on Monday were delayed and eventually failed to arrive. The aborted missions were carrying food for internally displaced people, patients and health workers, as well as critically important fuel for the hospital, he said. A third mission bringing medicines was allowed to go ahead.
Another convoy on Tuesday morning tried to reach Nasser Hospital with food for patients and health care staff but was intercepted by people on the street.
"[They] basically took the supplies ... which only shows how dire the needs are," Lindmeier said.
"It describes the terrible situation of the people, of the population, to stop U.N. convoys, to stop any truck, to try to get anything to eat, to get fresh water."