UNRWA Chief Condemns Gaza Aid Plan as 'Forced Displacement'

Gaza Aid Plan: UN Official Condemns 'Forced Displacement' Scheme GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – May 27, 2025 – The head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, has issued a stark warning about a new US-Israeli aid distribution plan for Gaza. He describes the plan as a thinly veiled attempt at forced population displacement, rather than genuine humanitarian assistance. The plan, which channels aid through just four locations in southern Gaza, introduces a pre-screening process. This, Lazzarini argues, will inevitably discriminate against many Palestinians, especially those too injured or frail to travel to the designated distribution points. "This system," he stated, "is intended to be an instrument of a forced displacement of the population." The UNRWA chief further expressed concern that the plan, combined with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's stated goals, could signal a catastrophic repeat of the 1948 Palestinian exodus, known as the Nakba. Lazzarini's comments underscore the deep anxieties surrounding the aid distribution changes and their potential consequences for the Palestinian people in Gaza.