By Emma Farge
GENEVA, March 20 (Reuters) - The outgoing head of the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency has warned that the viability of the organisation is in doubt, a letter showed on Friday, saying any collapse would result in Israel taking over its humanitarian work in Gaza.
The warning from Philippe Lazzarini comes at a decisive moment for the agency, which has suffered from major funding problems for months, with no permanent replacement yet appointed ahead of his departure on March 31.
"I must inform you that UNRWA may soon no longer be viable, with potentially far-reaching consequences for Palestine Refugees at a time when the region faces seismic political and security challenges," Lazzarini said in a letter to the President of the U.N. General Assembly dated March 17.
Lazzarini cited as challenges repeated Israeli attacks, such as a raid on its East Jerusalem offices in December, and the killing of over 390 of its employees during the two-year Gaza war.
"I must state my horror that a United Nations entity has allowed to be crushed as UNRWA has, in violation of international law, with its staff and Palestinian communities paying an unacceptable price," he said, saying Palestinian refugees have been "callously betrayed".
U.S. FUNDING FROZEN
Israel accuses UNRWA of bias, and the Israeli parliament passed a law in October 2024 banning the agency from operating in the country and prohibiting officials from having contact with it.
UNRWA has functioned for decades as the main international agency providing for the welfare of millions of Palestinian descendants of those who fled or were driven from homes during the war around Israel's 1948 founding.
Washington was long its biggest donor, but froze funding in January 2024 after Israel accused about a dozen UNRWA staff of taking part in the deadly Hamas attack that triggered the Gaza war in October 2023.
Lazzarini said in the letter that UNRWA's work was vital for implementing the Gaza peace plan and that Israel would have to assume responsibility for Palestinians in the occupied territories if U.N. states did not urgently provide political and financial support.
"The risks of fuelling further regional instability and harming Palestinian rights are immense," he said.
Lazzarini, who was appointed by the U.N. chief Antonio Guterres, will be temporarily replaced by Britain's Christian Saunders, currently a U.N. Special Coordinator, from April 1 until further notice, an UNRWA spokesperson said.
(Reporting by Emma Farge;Editing by Alison Williams)
