The head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, has urged world governments to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza following a UN inquiry that concluded Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people. In a public appeal, he condemned Israel’s decision to expel the UN’s main relief agency while blocking other trusted humanitarian organisations, accusing it of deliberately manufacturing unlivable conditions.

The UN report found that Israel’s policies, backed by the United States, have systematically obstructed aid delivery and deepened the siege, with the stated goal of dismantling civilian life in Gaza. Investigators confirmed catastrophic human loss: over 65,000 people killed and more than 165,000 injured, the majority women and children. Famine triggered by the blockade has already taken hundreds of lives, including scores of children, underscoring the deadly combination of bombs, starvation, and deprivation.

Lazzarini described the crisis as one of the gravest humanitarian catastrophes in modern times, warning that without decisive international action, Israel will continue to operate with impunity. He called on states to uphold international law, ensure unfettered humanitarian access, and put an end to the genocide before even more lives are lost to siege, hunger, and relentless bombardment.