Dismantling the United Nations agency charged with giving out aid in Gaza will leave “children without hope to access education and plunge communities deeper into poverty and despair”, a committee of MPs has heard.
In a letter to the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, Unrwa, the UN aid agency for Palestinians, urged the UK to press for continued aid access in Gaza.
Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, voted in October in favour of measures aimed at curbing Unrwa’s operations in Gaza following a 90-day grace period, a deadline which will end on January 28.
Some Israeli politicians had accused the agency of harbouring Hamas members, and while the UN has fired nine workers following an investigation, it said Israel has not provided evidence for wider infiltration.
In correspondence with Dame Emily Thornberry, the Foreign Affairs Committee’s chair, Marta Lorenzo, Unrwa’s director in Europe, said the agency’s services had been “lifesaving for children, women and men, at a time when the health system in Gaza has been decimated”.
She added: “In the absence of a functioning state, Unrwa is also the only organisation able to kick-start education for 650,000 children.
“The dismantling of Unrwa’s operations at this moment would leave an entire generation of children without hope to access education and plunge communities deeper into poverty and despair, sowing the seeds for further instability and extremism.”
The UK should “press the state of Israel for unrestricted humanitarian access, and champion accountability for violations of international law through international legal mechanisms”, the Unrwa director added.
In other correspondence published by the committee, Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the Government would “continue to use all diplomatic levers to press for an immediate ceasefire, the immediate release of hostages, and urgent action to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza”.
Mr Lammy also told the committee UK spy planes are operating over Gaza and Israel, but insisted their role was “solely to locate hostages”.
While the Foreign Secretary said he could not disclose “everything that the Government is doing”, he said the families of hostages were in particular being told “as much as possible” about the ongoing work to free their captive relatives from Hamas.
Correspondence between Foreign Affairs Committee chair Dame Emily, Unrwa, and Mr Lammy was released amid reports a final peace deal between Israel and Hamas was nearing completion.
It also came on the heels of Mr Lammy visiting Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
He met with Unrwa while there and said he urged Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar not to endanger the relief agency’s ability to operate.
The coming days are said to be critical to bringing an end to the ongoing conflict, according to officials involved in the talks.
Speaking as her committee published the letters, Dame Emily said: “While it is clear from the Foreign Secretary’s letters that the FCDO is working hard to bring about a ceasefire and bring home the hostages, there has been little tangible progress.
“The cold facts stand. Millions in Gaza are met daily with assaults from missiles and bombs. Dozens of hostages, including Britons and those with close links to the UK, are still held in Gaza, with no end to their suffering in sight.
“My question to the Foreign Secretary is this: If our current approach continues to fail, what is the plan B?”
