WEST BANK FACES WORST HUMANITARIAN CRISIS SINCE 1967 - UNRWA

ISTANBUL, Jan 24 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- The occupied West Bank is experiencing its most severe humanitarian crisis since 1967, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) warned Friday, citing large-scale displacement and extensive destruction in refugee camps amid Israeli military operations.

Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported that head of UNRWA Philippe Lazzarini said 33,000 people remain forcibly displaced from northern refugee camps one year after the launch of Israel’s “Iron Wall” operation.

“Israeli forces have been demolishing swathes of the camps, reducing the chances for these communities to recover,” he said in a statement on the US-based social media platform X.

Lazzarini said UNRWA teams “are assisting newly displaced Palestine refugees who have been pushed deeper into poverty and have no viable alternatives for healthcare, education and welfare.”

He stressed that the agency’s ability to continue operations depends on “continued political and financial support from member states."

Since beginning its genocide in the Gaza Strip in October 2023, Israel has intensified its crimes to annex the West Bank, particularly through demolition, displacement of Palestinians and expansion of settlements, according to Palestinian authorities.

Israeli forces and illegal settlers have since killed at least 1,108 Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and injured nearly 11,000, while it has detained 21,000.

Separately, illegal Israeli settlers vandalised a mosque Friday in the northern West Bank, the latest in a string of attacks on places of worship and Palestinian property.

-- BERNAMA-ANADOLU