Top Unrwa official says plan to shut agency is unrealistic and would add to suffering

Israel's plan to close the UN Palestinian relief agency, Unrwa, within three months is impossible and unrealistic without causing further untold suffering to Palestinians, its director of operations in Gaza has said.

- Patrick Wintour

Just returned from Gaza, where he said he had seen levels of suffering unprecedented since the war started, Sam Rose warned that Unrwa could collapse, with severe implications for schools and hospitals not just in Gaza but in the West Bank if Israel went ahead with its plan.

He was speaking the day after the US government stepped back from taking any action against Israel for failing to meet most of its demands to improve the supply of humanitarian aid to Gaza. The Biden administration said the humanitarian aid operation into Gaza was "not pristine," but Israel was taking steps to meet the US demands, set out in a letter, including opening new crossings.