Gaza: Europe and the Arabs
Despite the great challenges, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) continues its efforts to provide life-saving relief services to more than one and a half million displaced people in the areas south of the Gaza Valley, under difficult conditions that have restricted the movement of workers at the United Nations agency and various international relief organizations. According to what was stated in the United Nations news bulletin, a copy of which we received this morning

United Nations news bulletin correspondent in Gaza, Ziad Talib, visited Deir al-Balah Preparatory School affiliated with UNRWA, in central Gaza, which was turned into a center for sheltering the displaced, and witnessed for himself the process of preparing and distributing food rations to the displaced by the agency’s employees and volunteers.

Youssef Saqr, a support counselor at the school, says that UNRWA provides diverse and integrated services to the displaced in the shelter center, the most important of which are relief services in addition to health, social and psychological services.

He said that his work as a support counselor focuses on the psychological aspect, as he works to educate families about various important topics and holds stimulation sessions for children on a daily basis.

Saqr stressed the urgent need for relief services, noting that the interruption of aid leads to unimaginable suffering in shelter centers because people depend entirely on the aid provided by UNRWA.

He added: "People cannot buy any supplies due to their lack, and even if they are available, they are expensive. We thank UNRWA for the services it provides to people, and we call on everyone to redouble their efforts so that aid continues to reach everyone."

With the continued bombing and displacement - which also affects UNRWA employees - the agency's teams are still working dedicatedly to provide relief to the residents of the Gaza Strip, more than two million of whose residents depend on UNRWA aid and services to survive.

The agency runs shelters housing more than a million people, providing them with necessary humanitarian relief and primary health care.

Spread of diseases among children
Inaam Rabeh works as a social supervisor at Deir al-Balah Preparatory School. She provides health and social services to people with special needs and the elderly.

Mrs. Inaam says that the aid supplies that arrive at the school are insufficient, noting that hepatitis and other diseases have spread widely among children over the past two weeks due to the lack of hygiene supplies, medicines, clothes, and blankets, which doubles the suffering of people in the shelter center.

It is noteworthy that more than 150 employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) were killed during the war, while dozens of the agency’s headquarters and warehouses were destroyed in various governorates of the Gaza Strip.

UNRWA is the main arm of humanitarian efforts in the Gaza Strip. No other entity has the capacity to provide assistance on the scale and scale necessary to meet the needs of 2.2 million people in the sector.

A number of donors had suspended their funding to UNRWA after allegations of the involvement of 12 of its employees in the October 7 attacks on Israel. The agency quickly fired 9 employees, due to the seriousness of the allegations. The United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services - the highest investigative body in the organization - is investigating these allegations.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations appealed to governments that suspended their funding to UNRWA to reconsider this and ensure the continuation of the agency’s operations. If funding for UNRWA is not resumed, it will be forced to cease its operations across the region - including Gaza - by the end of February.