Lazzarini claims 'dis-information campaign' against UNRWA putting agency staff at risk

“The spread of #disinformation against @UNRWA is meant to create chaos & divert attention from the political aims to dismantle the Agency,” Lazzarini wrote.

By SAM HALPERN NOVEMBER 26, 2024 11:23 Updated: NOVEMBER 26, 2024 11:31

Illustrative image of UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini. (photo credit: ABED RAHIM KHATIB/FLASH90, Canva, JOHANNA GERON/REUTERS)

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini criticized a “spread of disinformation” that he said was putting the Palestinian refugee agency's staff at risk, in a Monday post to X/Twitter.

“The spread of #disinformation against @UNRWA is meant to create chaos & divert attention from the political aims to dismantle the Agency,” Lazzarini wrote.

The spread of #disinformation against @UNRWA is meant to create chaos & divert attention from the political aims to dismantle the Agency. It is distraction from what really matters: The devastating impact the war in #Gaza & the region is having on civilians & the work that…

— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) November 25, 2024

UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, has come under intensified scrutiny since the start of the Israel-Hamas War in October of last year, and numerous members of the agency’s staff have been exposed as members of Hamas.

This month, UN Watch exposé reported that former UNRWA commissioner-general Pierre Krahenbuhl assured leaders of designated Palestinian terrorist organizations that “we are one” and “no one can separate us” during his term.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini attends a briefing on the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian Territory at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, June 25, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/DENIS BALIBOUSE)

Krahenbuhl’s comments reportedly came during a meeting in Beirut in February 2017.

UNRWA staff and terror ties

Also this month, an investigation by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education identified twelve UNRWA school principals and deputy principals as active members of terrorist organizations, with many holding commanding positions in terror units.

Lazzarini and UNRWA have denied knowledge of Hamas connections among their staff. After Israel eliminated Hamas official Fateh Sherif Abu el-Amin, the head of Lebanon’s UNRWA teachers' association, in a September airstrike in the country, Lazzarini denied knowledge of el-Amin’s Hamas involvement.

Lazzarini’s Monday post further stated, “The spread of false information continues unabated, causing harm to Palestine Refugees by undermining the only UN agency dedicated to providing humanitarian assistance, education, + primary health care to one of the most vulnerable communities in the region."

“UNRWA is the international community’s instrument put in place to address the plight of Palestine refugees in the absence of an alternative & until a just political solution is found.”

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The UNRWA chief added that the alleged disinformation campaign was putting the lives of UNRWA staff in the West Bank and Gaza at risk.