An entire generation of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip would "be denied the right to education" if the United Nations Palestinian relief agency UNRWA collapses under new Israeli legislation, the head of UNRWA warned on Wednesday.
Israel's parliament passed a law last month that will ban UNRWA from operating in the country when it takes effect in late January. UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said its implementation "will have catastrophic consequences."
"In Gaza, dismantling UNRWA will collapse the United Nations humanitarian response, which relies heavily on the agency's infrastructure," he told a UN General Assembly committee. "Glaringly absent from discussions about Gaza without UNRWA, is education."