Karen Abu Zeid, the UNRWA general commissioner, has warned that the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are facing a rapidly worsening humanitarian conditions that necessitate extending urgent assistance to them and lifting the siege. Abu Zeid in a press statement, cited by PIC, conveyed that four out of five refugees in a number of Palestinian areas such as Gaza live below the poverty line. She pointed out that Palestinian economy is in shambles and there are no job opportunities possibly due to the deteriorating security conditions.
The commissioner, who was speaking in Brussels after meeting European parliamentarians and European Union officials, urged the EU to extend assistance to the tune of US$246 million to its Agency. She said that UNRWA needed the money to continue extending educational, health and social services to around 4.4 million refugees in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, West Bank and Gaza.
The Israeli occupation authority is hampering the UNRWA staffers' freedom of movement in the Strip, she pointed out.
