It's been over a month of total siege.
The Israeli authorities continue to ban the entry of basics: food, medicine, fuel:
a collective punishment.
People are starving, chaos and looting have returned.
Yesterday, at UNRWA's Distribution Centre, a man fired shots in the air.
Thousands gathered. The centre, surrounding buildings were looted and damaged.
This is not an isolated incident. It's a symptom of a breakdown of civil order due to the tight siege.
People are exhausted as they continue to be locked up in a tiny piece of land.
Aid must be allowed in and the siege must be lifted.
UNRWA is the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. The United Nations General Assembly established UNRWA in 1949 with a mandate to provide humanitarian assistance and protection to registered Palestine refugees in the Agency's area of operations pending a just and lasting solution to their plight.
UNRWA operates in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, The Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Tens of thousands of Palestine refugees who lost their homes and livelihoods due to the 1948 conflict continue to be displaced and in need of support, nearly 75 years on.
UNRWA helps Palestine Refugees achieve their full potential in human development through quality services it provides in education, health care, relief and social services, protection, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance, and emergency assistance. UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions.
