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United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) close to collapse of its operations in the Gaza Strip due to increasingly difficult conditions, his boss said Wednesday.

“I am not going to hide the fact that we may reach a point where we can no longer operate,” UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini told reporters at a news conference in Berlin.

“We are very close to a possible tipping point. When will this be? Don’t know. But we are very close,” he said.

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The agency, he said, was faced with a combination financial and political threats to its existencein addition to difficulties in daily activities, when assistance is even more needed against the threat of disease and hunger.

Lazzarini said there was a real risk heading into winter when people’s immune systems were weakened. hunger or acute malnutrition.

UNRWA provides education, health care and aid to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

Its relations with Israel have long been strained but have deteriorated sharply since the start of the Gaza war.

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Israel launched its offensive against Hamas after the Palestinian militant group attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage in the Gaza Strip, according to Israel’s count. The Israeli offensive has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.

(Reuters)