UNRWA head warns of 'deliberate campaign' to end its operations amid dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza

The head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency warned on Monday of "a deliberate and concerted campaign" aimed at ending its operations as Israel accused the organisation of employing over 450 "military operatives" from Hamas and other armed groups.

Philippe Lazzarini did not specifically address the latest allegations made by the Israeli military on Monday, but he called out Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for "openly stating that UNRWA will not be part of post-war Gaza."

"UNRWA is facing a deliberate and concerted campaign to undermine its operations, and ultimately end them," Lazzarini - head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) - told the UN General Assembly.

"The implementation of this plan is already underway with the destruction of our infrastructure across the Gaza Strip," he said. "Dismantling UNRWA is short sighted. By doing so, we will sacrifice an entire generation of children, sowing the seeds of hatred, resentment, and future conflict."

Lazzarini told the 193-member assembly that UNRWA was "functioning hand-to-mouth" after 16 countries paused a total of $450 million in funding when Israel in January accused 12 UNRWA staff of taking part in the October 7 attack.

The UNRWA staff were fired and an independent internal UN investigation launched.

Israel has waged a deadly war in Gaza since the Hamas attack, killing over 30,000 Palestinians - mostly women and children. Tel Aviv has targeted all corners of the enclave, striking hospitals, refugee camps, schools and residential buildings, all while besieging Gaza - where food, medicine and water shortages are widespread.

"The fate of the agency, and the millions of people who depend on it, hang in the balance," Lazzarini told the General Assembly, describing UNRWA as "the backbone of humanitarian assistance in Gaza."

UNRWA employs 13,000 people in Gaza, running schools, healthcare clinics and other social services, and distributing humanitarian aid. The UN has said some 3,000 are currently still working to deliver aid in Gaza, where 576,000 people - one quarter of the population - are one step away from famine.

"In Gaza, the UN is a terror organisation itself," Israel's UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan claimed at the General Assembly earlier on Monday.

Meanwhile UNRWA, said on Monday that Israeli authorities had tortured some of its staff members during interrogations.

"Some of our staff have conveyed to UNRWA teams that they were forced to confessions under torture and ill-treatment", the agency said in a statement to AFP.