UNRWA: Risk of famine in Gaza without swift action

For the people in the Gaza strip, it’s a humanitarian disaster that could easily get worse, said Scott Anderson, Director of UNRWA in Gaza, in an interview with Euronews in Brussels.

“We’re nowhere safe in Gaza,” he told Euronews political editor Stefan Grobe, “including the safe zones.”

It’s now more than a year since that the war between Israel and Hamas began – and an end is nowhere in sight.

“We haven’t been able to get food to those people for over a month,” said Anderson of the situation on the ground in areas of the north, adding: “If we don’t do something quickly, it could devolve into a full-blown famine, which would be a manmade condition and something that could easily be corrected if we just get enough aid in to take care of everybody.”

Questions about integrity of UN agency persist

Anderson also reacted to Israeli charges that UNRWA facilities were used to house Hamas terrorists, armament caches and administrative headquarters.

In response, UNRWA has acted to weed out Hamas terrorists from among its employees, but Anderson could not guarantee that the job was complete.

“We have over 13,000 people. We do take the neutrality very seriously, as shown by the commissioner general’s very swift action,” he said, adding: “But no, I can’t with certainty say that’s done. I don’t have evidence of more. I can’t say that. And if we did, we would take action. But no, we can’t with certainty say that, that would be incorrect of us to do.”

Anderson also commented on the latest Israeli attempt to ban UNRWA from the entire area.

“If we’re unable to operate, unable to continue bringing that aid in, that all stops. And so that would have potentially catastrophic situations for the people on the ground,” he said.

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