UNRWA chief calls for donors to fulfil their Gaza pledges

Director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Robert Turner yesterday called on donors to fulfil their commitments and provide more financial support for the Gaza Strip.

Turner told reporters at a press club in Brussels that he was frustrated by the donors’ lack of commitment to the pledges they made during the Cairo summit.

“I am in Brussels to talk about the disastrous situation not only for the people of Gaza, but also for the humanitarian organisations teams less than a year after the last war in Gaza,” he said.

Turner stressed that the situation in Gaza is characterised by famine and frustrations, noting that his agency’s recent figures on the situation in Gaza confirms beyond any doubt the amount of suffering and disaster experienced by the people of Gaza, especially homeless families and children without schools.

Turner said the Israeli war on Gaza not only destroyed thousands of homes and schools but also medical centres and infrastructure which impacted negatively Gaza’s economy and destroyed it completely.

“Therefore donations are used not only to build what has been destroyed before, but to plan for a better future for the people,” he added.

The senior UN official stressed that the humanitarian situation in Gaza cannot be separated from the political situation and that both are closely related to one another, especially as two-thirds of the population are fully dependent on food aid.

He also stressed that the war in itself was not primarily responsible for the tragic situation in Gaza but that the eight-year long Israeli blockade hampered reconstruction efforts.

Turner pointed out that it was very important to find a political solution to the conflict so the 2014 war is the last war in Gaza.