In a damning indictment delivered on his final day in office, the outgoing head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, has called for an urgent international investigation into the killing of more than 390 of the agency's staff members during Israel's ongoing military offensive in Gaza. Speaking to reporters in Geneva on Tuesday, Lazzarini condemned what he described as an "extraordinary level of impunity" that has allowed the systematic targeting of humanitarian workers, warning that the world's failure to respond has set a dangerous precedent for conflicts across the region.
The Swiss national, who has led the UN agency for Palestinian refugees since 2020, revealed that more than 390 UNRWA employees have been killed since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, marking the deadliest conflict for UN personnel in the agency's history. Speaking at a press conference on his last day on the job, Lazzarini emphasized that the true toll extends beyond fatalities: "Many others have sustained life-changing injuries or have been arbitrarily detained and tortured," he said, adding that investigations must also cover the deaths of other UN staff members and the "extraordinary, large-scale destruction" of UN premises throughout the besieged enclave.
Lazzarini made clear that the time has come for accountability, stating unequivocally: "I believe that we need to have a panel … a high-level panel of experts to look into the killing of our staff". He confirmed that he has raised the issue with the office of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and with UN member states in New York, though he acknowledged the political complexities surrounding the timing of such an inquiry. "The question is when is the right time to start this, as … everything in this context is polarized," he explained, warning that "the more time goes, the more difficult the task for the commission will be in the future".
In his most pointed remarks, Lazzarini leveled severe criticism at Israel's conduct of the war, asserting that the international community's silence has effectively granted Israeli forces "a license to kill" in Gaza. He lamented that during two years of conflict, "all possible red lines have been crossed, and there have never ever been any consequences; diplomatic, political, economic, legal, nothing". He argued that killings of UNRWA staff, aid workers, health workers, and journalists have been routinely dismissed by Israeli authorities, with victims "labeled as being Hamas" as a justification.
Lazzarini warned that this pattern of impunity is now spreading beyond Gaza, noting that people killed in Israeli attacks on neighboring Lebanon are similarly "labeled as being Hezbollah" without proper investigation. He drew a direct line between the international community's "abject failure" to respond to violations in Gaza and the current escalation of conflict across the Middle East, stating that this failure has set "the stage for a war outside the bounds of international law that is now spreading across and beyond the Middle East".
The outgoing commissioner general also highlighted the sustained campaign against UNRWA itself, which has faced fierce Israeli criticism and legal restrictions. Israel passed legislation in October 2024 banning the agency from operating on its soil, accusing it of providing cover for Hamas militants. Earlier this year, Israeli authorities began demolishing UNRWA's headquarters in East Jerusalem, a move Lazzarini called "extraordinarily outrageous".
Despite an international investigation that found only "neutrality-related issues" within the agency and noted that Israel had not provided conclusive evidence for its headline allegations regarding terror ties, UNRWA has been left facing "collapse" due to the combination of Israeli attacks and severe funding cuts. Lazzarini warned that if the international community fails to protect the agency, "the consequences will be catastrophic for a generation, if not longer".
Lazzarini's call for investigation comes against the backdrop of unproven Israeli allegations that some UNRWA employees participated in the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel. Israeli intelligence has claimed that approximately 10 percent of UNRWA's 12,000 Gazan employees had ties to Palestinian resistance groups, though the agency has consistently maintained that such claims lack conclusive evidence. The outgoing UNRWA chief rejected the use of such allegations to justify the killing of humanitarian workers, emphasizing that all UN staff are entitled to protection under international law regardless of unsubstantiated accusations.
As Lazzarini steps down, he will be temporarily replaced by Christian Saunders, the Special Coordinator for Improving the United Nations Response to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, who will work to maintain the agency's operations amid the ongoing crisis. Lazzarini's final message, however, was clear: without accountability for the killing of humanitarian workers and protection for UN institutions, the rules-based international order itself faces collapse.