Former UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini: 'The destruction of Gaza has been acknowledged by the international community. It's a disgrace'

Philippe Lazzarini led UNRWA for more than half a decade and is now its former commissioner-general. In his book, he describes Gaza’s destruction and what he calls an Israeli campaign to dismantle the agency. He also condemns the international community’s response.

Lazzarini argues that Gaza’s destruction has been acknowledged and “ratified” by the international community. He calls this an “abdication,” suggesting that governments have accepted events instead of stopping them. He says the destruction was orchestrated by Israel, while Palestinians face the consequences.

His proposed path forward is pressure from outside. Lazzarini says Palestinian salvation can come only through “external pressure,” because local political forces have not changed course. His warning concerns both immediate humanitarian suffering and the possible disappearance of Palestinians’ political prospects.

UNRWA is a United Nations agency created to assist Palestine refugees. The supplied article identifies its full name and explains that the agency embodies the Palestinian refugee issue. It does not provide a detailed service list, so the following description uses established information about UNRWA’s mandate.

UNRWA operates schools and health services and provides relief, social support, registration, and emergency aid. In Gaza, those functions can include food assistance, shelter support, medical care, and education. These services matter because many families rely on the agency during both ordinary hardship and war.

The agency is also politically significant. It keeps the refugee issue visible while delivering practical help. Lazzarini says Israel has tried to dismantle it, while some Israeli institutions previously viewed its presence as necessary. Removing UNRWA would therefore affect both daily services and the refugee question.

UNRWA serves roughly 5.9 million registered Palestine refugees, according to widely established agency figures; the supplied article itself gives no number. Its work can also assist other vulnerable people during emergencies. The agency’s importance is therefore measured not only by registration totals, but by the services families receive.

In Gaza, UNRWA has traditionally been a major provider of schools, clinics, food aid, shelter, and other relief. During war, these functions become even more important. A disruption can affect basic needs quickly, especially when public systems and other humanitarian organizations cannot fill the gap.

The article emphasizes this vulnerability without supplying a current Gaza total. It says Israeli military and foreign-affairs officials once saw UNRWA as a “necessary evil” because its departure would create a vacuum. That warning suggests that dismantling the agency could sharply deepen humanitarian hardship and uncertainty.

Lazzarini says Israel’s opposition is tied to what UNRWA represents, not only to its daily operations. The agency embodies the Palestinian refugee issue and the right of return. For politicians who reject that claim, dismantling UNRWA can appear to weaken a central symbol of Palestinian national demands.

Before October 7, 2023, Lazzarini describes a gap between political rhetoric and practical government policy. Some Israeli politicians called for UNRWA’s dismantling. However, Israel’s military establishment and Ministry of Foreign Affairs were more pragmatic. They viewed the agency as a “necessary evil.”

Their reasoning was operational. Even without agreeing with UNRWA’s purpose, they recognized that its departure would create a vacuum. The contrast shows why the agency remains contested: it is politically sensitive, yet deeply embedded in the system providing services and stability to Palestinians.

The Palestinian refugee right of return is the claim that Palestinian refugees should be able to return to the homes and lands from which they were displaced, with related rights often discussed in political negotiations. The supplied article does not define the claim in detail, so this explanation adds established background.

UNRWA is connected to the issue because its mandate is organized around Palestine refugees. Lazzarini says Israel has long wanted to eliminate the agency partly because it embodies the refugee question and the right of return. The agency therefore represents both practical assistance and an unresolved political demand.

That connection makes UNRWA unusually controversial. Dismantling it could be presented as reducing the refugee issue’s institutional visibility, but it would not itself resolve the underlying claim. The article instead links the agency’s future to wider questions about Palestinian political prospects and international responsibility.

If UNRWA cannot operate, Palestinians may lose access to services the agency commonly provides, including schools, health care, food assistance, shelter, and emergency relief. The supplied article does not list these consequences directly, but it records Israeli officials’ warning that UNRWA’s departure would create a vacuum.

That vacuum matters because UNRWA is not simply a political symbol. It is also a large operational channel for assistance. If another organization cannot quickly replace its staff, facilities, funding, and coordination, families may experience interruptions in education, medical care, food distribution, and protection.

Lazzarini sees a second consequence. He warns of the risk that Palestinians’ political prospects could disappear. Removing the agency might weaken international attention to refugees without resolving their status. The result could therefore be both immediate humanitarian harm and greater political marginalization.

International pressure matters when governments involved in a war will not change course voluntarily. Diplomatic demands, coordinated sanctions, arms restrictions, legal scrutiny, and aid conditions can raise the political and material cost of continued violence. The supplied article does not name specific tools, but Lazzarini identifies “external pressure” as the Palestinians’ only possible salvation.

Pressure can also target humanitarian access. Governments and international bodies can demand safe routes, protect aid operations, and insist that relief agencies continue working. If pressure is credible and coordinated, it can make obstruction more costly and help humanitarian organizations reach civilians.

The political effect is longer term. External actors can preserve space for Palestinian representation, rights, and future negotiations rather than allowing destruction to settle the issue. Lazzarini calls the international response an “abdication,” so his argument is that outside powers must act instead of merely acknowledging Gaza’s devastation.