One hundred and twenty-seven Palestinians had died in Israeli strikes in the past 24 hours in the Gaza Strip yesterday and a total of 27,365 people have lost their lives since Israel started its war on Gaza on October 7. Most of those killed are women and children.
The war has plunged Gaza into a severe humanitarian crisis. One in four Palestinians in the territory faces starvation as the fighting and Israeli restrictions hampers the aid operations.
Making the situation even worse, many nations including the United States have withheld funding to United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) on which millions of Palestinians depend after being uprooted from their homes by the occupation forces.
Qatar has time and again stressed the necessity of continuing and intensifying the relief efforts in the Gaza Strip, and warned of the catastrophic repercussions of stopping support for UNRWA.
Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani met on Saturday with Secretary-General of the United Nations H E Antonio Guterres. The Prime Minister underlined the role played by UNRWA in assisting millions in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. He warned of the disastrous consequences that could result from stopping its funding. He also called for separating the agency as an international institution with well-established values and traditions from the allegations against a number of its employees who are under investigation.
The agency was established in 1949 to provide humanitarian assistance to Palestinian refugees. Its role includes providing education, healthcare, relief and social services to registered Palestinian refugees. It plays a crucial role in addressing the needs of Palestinian refugees and supporting their well-being.
UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food Michael Fakhri said recently that famine has become ‘inevitable’ in the Gaza Strip, after the decision of some countries to stop funding for UNRWA. He wished the good sense should prevail and the funding of the agency be restarted and the collective punishment of the Palestinians stopped.
Meanwhile, Qatar continues its efforts for truce in Gaza. The Prime Minister has said that things were “in a much better place” in mediation efforts than they were a few weeks ago. Talking at the Atlantic Council, an American think tank, he said, “Our main role as a mediator is trying our best to get a negotiated solution to bring the hostages safely back to their homes and stop the bombing and killing of civilians.”
