Lazzarini: UNRWA's international staff have not been issued visas for about six months
New York, July 22 (Hibya) - Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), reported that Israeli authorities have not been issuing visas to humanitarian workers to enter Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories.
UNRWA Commissioner General Lazzarini stated that humanitarian workers are prohibited from reporting atrocities committed in Gaza and other parts of the occupied Palestinian territories.
He said the refusal to grant visas to his colleagues from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied territories is the latest in a series of restrictions: "Since the beginning of the war, Israeli authorities have increasingly denied or failed to renew visas for UN personnel, including humanitarian coordinators, heads of agencies, and international NGO staff. Legal restrictions aimed at silencing Israeli human rights organizations have also been adopted."
Lazzarini emphasized that UNRWA’s international staff have not been issued visas for about six months: "Since March 2024, after the International Court of Justice ruling, I have not been allowed to enter Gaza, and since June 2024, neither East Jerusalem nor the West Bank. Humanitarian workers need to be granted visas so they can support their Palestinian colleagues. The ban on international media entry to Gaza deepens misinformation and increases the dehumanization of the people of Gaza."
British News Agency
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