Lazzarini: Aid mechanism is a “death trap” and the occupation must lift the siege immediately

GAZA, June 01 (YPA) – The Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, said that the mechanism used by Israel to distribute aid inside the Gaza Strip has turned into a death trap, in light of the continued targeting of civilians gathering in search of food.

In a press statement on Sunday, Lazzarini stressed that the only way to avoid a mass famine that would include one million Palestinian children is to allow the United Nations to freely and safely enter and distribute humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.

The UNRWA Commissioner-General called on the Israeli occupation authorities to immediately lift the blockade and enable international relief organizations to work without hindrance, warning of the disastrous consequences of the restrictions imposed on the entry of essential supplies into the besieged Strip for months.

He also called for international media to be allowed into Gaza to independently document what he described as “ongoing atrocities,” in light of the systematic media blackout imposed on the Strip.

Lazzarini’s statements came hours after the occupation forces committed a new massacre against Palestinian civilians in Rafah, killing 31 citizens and wounding about 200 others, during a shooting targeting crowds of aid seekers at a distribution point.

In a similar incident, another citizen was killed and 30 others were wounded near the Netzarim distribution point in southern Gaza.