For Raquel Martí, the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) is "an uncomfortable witness" and "a constant reminder to the international community that there are six million Palestinian refugees who have rights." As director of the Spanish committee, she describes that the entity is organizing aid in Gaza, while it overcomes the umpteenth deficit crisis due to the brake on donations, a result of Israel's allegations of links with Hamas. Although UNRWA has 75 years of challenges, today it deals with a Gaza under total Israeli blockade, at imminent risk of famine and Israel's recent announcement to block its services in the strip.
We are approaching the sixth month of the Israeli invasion and attacks in Gaza. What is the current position of UNRWA?
We have 162 workers murdered, out of a total of 165. It is the highest number in the history of the United Nations. More than 150 UNRWA facilities have been affected, some completely destroyed, and are being used by both Hamas and Israeli Army fighters. Under the UN flag, in the shelters, more than 400 people, mostly women and children, have been killed and more than 1,400 injured.
In the face of this destruction, how is the agency working on the ground?
UNRWA has the largest logistics base in Rafah, where the remaining active personnel are now, which are 3,000 of the 13,000 who continue to provide their services. These are health personnel, logistics personnel, and psychologists who are in our shelters to serve the population and distribute aid.
Israel maintains that "it does not limit the amount of aid," that the UN and NGOs are not distributing it "due to inability."
The aid that enters Gaza is what Israel allows to enter. On average, in February there were 70 trucks a day and in March it has begun to increase to 150. The problem is that Israel carries out three inspections of the merchandise in a very slow procedure that does not allow for more traffic. It also has a list of materials that it has decided to prohibit such as anesthetics, pills to purify water, anti-cancer medications...
Many of the trucks that may contain some of these materials are rejected and must return to Egypt. In no way is it the United Nations that lacks capacity. There are more land crossings, Kerem Shalom and Rafah are not the only ones in Gaza. If Israel opened all the crossings, more trucks would enter daily. This is what we are asking for, but it is not allowed.
How is the investigation continuing following Israel's accusations of the alleged involvement of UNRWA workers in the October 7 attacks?
It is underway and we hope that the report will be available in mid or late April. What we know so far is that Israel has not shared the evidence it claims to have. What UNRWA has published is a report with dozens of testimonies from workers who have been detained and subjected to mistreatment, including sexual abuse, and who under torture have been forced to confess that they are members of Hamas or to accuse colleagues. Every time Israel takes personnel or other people to its centers outside of Gaza, it enters them through Kerem Shalom, and we are registering everything, since we treat bruises, broken arms...
If Israel still does not share the evidence, why do you think 16 countries, plus the EU, instantly froze their donations?
That 12 workers could have participated in the massacres is a very serious accusation and we take it very seriously. The dismissal has been carried out on a precautionary basis until the investigation determines if there is evidence to initiate a criminal judicial procedure with which we are collaborating. We are a humanitarian agency, we do not have an intelligence service, that is why we share the list of workers with Israel. The last time we did it was in May 2023, and we had no warning.
We consider that the countries have made an irresponsible decision since UNRWA is the backbone of aid in Gaza. And what has led many to stop donations are the accusations from Israel, with which it has criminalized the agency for 12 workers when it has 33,000.
Of that group, only Sweden, Canada, Australia and Finland have resumed their funds. What has changed since the Israeli indictment in January?
On the one hand, the pressing situation in Gaza, where famine will soon have to be declared due to the high levels of food insecurity and because civilians, including children, have already begun to die from starvation and dehydration. So aid is essential and UNRWA is the only one with the capacity to distribute and coordinate it. Then, I think it was a hasty decision and it has been seen that since then Israel has not provided any evidence. UNRWA has put all the measures in place – it has fired workers, it has requested an independent investigation, the UN Secretary General has launched another investigation into whether the neutrality protocols are sufficient – and that has made governments decide to return to finance us.
With the return of these four countries, how long will the agency be able to maintain itself?
UNRWA needs 60 million dollars a month because we are not just talking about Gaza. The withdrawal of funds affects Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and the occupied Palestinian territory. Therefore, each donation allows us to maintain operations for days, or at most months. Now, with these donors who have released the funds and those who have increased them like Spain, we think we can continue until the end of May.
UNRWA is working on plans for 'the day after'. How do you conceive in the face of ongoing destruction and with Netanyahu seeking "for UNRWA to cease to exist"?
That's right, he has even said that to win the war we must end UNRWA. The agency is increasingly being criminalized, but the problem we have with this offensive is that it is unprecedented in Gaza. It is the first time that we do not know what scenario the population will be in 'the day after', how the strip will be, which until now is absolutely destroyed. A United Nations report says that the removal of debris and the deactivation of explosives alone will take four years.
In other words, we are not talking about reconstruction, which is going to be very long and the population is going to have to be kept in temporary infrastructures, we are going to have to think about putting schools like in the year 48, in tents, because they have destroyed the facilities. Health is also destroyed and even after a ceasefire, the contagious diseases that exist right now will continue to spread. Reversing everything, starting up the productive system that has been annihilated, is going to take time.
