Falcon powers – Israeli Minister of Interior, Moshe Arbel, has decided to prevent the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, from obtaining an entry visa to visit the Gaza Strip.
According to the Israeli Broadcasting Authority, the Minister of Interior rejected the request to grant a visa to the Commissioner-General of UNRWA due to his desire to visit the Gaza Strip, amidst Israeli criticism of UNRWA.
Earlier today, Lazzarini confirmed that Israel has not requested the evacuation of civilians from Rafah, which is threatened by a military operation, expressing great concern in Gaza about an Israeli military attack on Rafah if an agreement is not reached this week.
In March of last year, the Director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) stated that Israel had refused his entry into the Gaza Strip, “while famine is about to spread” in the northern part of the Strip. He made this statement in a post on the “X” platform following a press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry in Cairo.
Lazzarini added that “Israeli authorities are preventing me from entering Gaza,” noting that “famine is imminent in the northern Gaza Strip.”
The director of the UN agency said during the press conference, which was broadcasted by the private “Cairo” channel, that he had intended to go to Rafah today,
but was informed one hour before that entry was denied.
