Social order in Gaza could soon collapse, warns Unrwa

Social order in Gaza is likely to collapse further if Israel goes ahead with its threat this month to end all cooperation with the UN refugee agency for Palestinians (Unrwa), Louise Wateridge, its senior emergency officer, has warned.

- Patrick Wintour

Wateridge, who has just returned from Gaza, described the territory as increasingly fractured and said the two Knesset bills due to come into force at the end of the month blocking cooperation with the agency would make it impossible for Unrwa to operate or to distribute aid in a war zone.

"If we're no longer able to communicate to the Israeli authorities, we no longer have a deconfliction process in place, so none of our buildings will be protected any more, and we simply won't be able to be there," she said.

She said the levels of lawlessness already occurring in the Kerem Shalom crossing had so far not spread across Gaza due to the societal ties Palestinians have with each other and their relationship with Unrwa.