Israeli war against Gaza live: Head of emergency services killed in Gaza Strip | News on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

The head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) warned that people in Gaza are in “hell on earth” as the humanitarian situation worsens due to Israeli restrictions on aid deliveries.

“Children are dying of malnutrition and dehydration while food and clean water wait in trucks,” UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini told the agency’s advisory panel.

UN agencies and aid groups have repeatedly raised the alarm about severe shortages of food and other essential goods in Gaza. Thousands of trucks carrying aid continue to pile up at the main crossings. Due to fighting and Israeli restrictions on movement, essential goods that have made it into the enclave have yet to be distributed.

The UNRWA chief also called on his partners to resist Israel’s efforts to dissolve the organization.

“Israel has long been critical of UNRWA’s mandate, but now it wants to end UNRWA’s activities and abandon the agency’s status as a United Nations agency supported by an overwhelming majority of member states,” Lazzarini said at a meeting of the agency’s advisory committee.

“In Gaza, the agency paid a terrible price: 193 UNRWA staff were killed,” he said.

“If we do not fight back, other UN agencies and international organizations will be next in line and will further undermine our multilateral system.”