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UNRWA Fears New ‘Tragedy’ as Lebanon Violence Adds Strain

Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), speaks during an interview with AFP in New York on September 24, 2024. (AFP)
Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), speaks during an interview with AFP in New York on September 24, 2024. (AFP)
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UNRWA Fears New ‘Tragedy’ as Lebanon Violence Adds Strain

Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), speaks during an interview with AFP in New York on September 24, 2024. (AFP)
Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), speaks during an interview with AFP in New York on September 24, 2024. (AFP)

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees is bracing for a triple crisis as Israeli strikes on Lebanon add to the strain it is facing in Gaza and the West Bank, its chief told AFP on Tuesday.

UNRWA, founded in 1949, provides services, including education and healthcare, for Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.

With three of its area of operations turning into "active frontlines," the embattled agency already grappling with a severe financial shortfall is poised to come under even more pressure, said UNRWA's Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.

"We already have Gaza, we already have the West Bank, so we have two fields of operation which have become active frontlines," he said.

"We (now) also have Lebanon, which would mean that basically three... contexts of operation will become humanitarian emergencies," he added, calling the situation a "triple tragedy."

Faced with mounting Israeli strikes, UNRWA has paused some operations in Lebanon as it converts its schools into shelters for hundreds of people displaced from the south of the country.

Displacement soared after Israel pummeled Hezbollah targets on Monday, killing at least 558 people in the deadliest day of violence in the country since its 1975-90 civil war, according to local authorities.

"The fear is that... we are going into a full-fledged war," Lazzarini told AFP as world leaders gathered at the United Nations for its annual diplomatic event.

"Another concern is that parts of Lebanon become like Gaza."

- 'More strain' -

The October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel and the ensuing Israeli war on Gaza has piled threats on UNRWA, the only UN organization created to aid a specific refugee population.

At least 222 UNRWA staff have been killed and two-thirds of the agency's facilities in Gaza have been damaged and destroyed since the start of the Gaza war.

"Depending on how the war will be unfolding in Lebanon, we have thousands of staff there, it is not excluded... that staff will also be killed," Lazzarini said.

A new front in Lebanon "will put much more strain on us. The needs will increase and we will also need more support from the donors," the UNRWA chief added.

The agency saw a series of funding cuts earlier this year after Israel accused more than a dozen of its 13,000 Gaza employees of involvement in the October 7 attack by Hamas.

Most donors have since resumed funding with the exception of the United States, UNRWA's largest financial backer.

"UNRWA has enough funding until the end of October," Lazzarini said.

With an $80 million shortfall for 2024, Lazzarini is hosting a donor conference on the sidelines of this UN General Assembly this week to shore up pledges from donors.

The main outcome the UNRWA chief is seeking is "to make sure that we can operate till the end of the year" but also to secure longer term commitments from donors.

"I'm very concerned about 2025 because there is a certain number of traditional donors who will go through austerity measures and who will reduce their oversea budget," he said, without naming any state.

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Arab World

Al-Wadiah Border Security Foils Attempt to Smuggle Thousands of Captagon Pills from Yemen 

Members of the Al-Wadiah battalion boast extensive experience allowing them to thwart ongoing smuggling attempts. (Al-Wadiah battalion) 
Members of the Al-Wadiah battalion boast extensive experience allowing them to thwart ongoing smuggling attempts. (Al-Wadiah battalion) 
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Al-Wadiah Border Security Foils Attempt to Smuggle Thousands of Captagon Pills from Yemen 

Members of the Al-Wadiah battalion boast extensive experience allowing them to thwart ongoing smuggling attempts. (Al-Wadiah battalion) 
Members of the Al-Wadiah battalion boast extensive experience allowing them to thwart ongoing smuggling attempts. (Al-Wadiah battalion) 

The “Al-Wadiah Port Security and Protection Battalion” thwarted an attempt to smuggle 4,925 Captagon pills bound for Saudi Arabia from areas under Houthi control in Yemen.

Col. Osama Al-Assad, commander of the battalion, said the seizure was made during routine inspection procedures at the land crossing.

Security personnel grew suspicious of an incoming vehicle and, after a thorough search, discovered the pills professionally concealed in an apparent attempt to evade detection.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Assad said the confiscated drugs were documented in line with legal procedures and the suspects were referred to the competent authorities for further investigation.

He stressed that coordination with the Saudi side remains strong and ongoing at the highest levels, expressing appreciation to the Kingdom for its continued support to Yemen in general and to the battalion in particular, helping bolster border security between the two neighbors.

In a recent interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Assad revealed that most drug smuggling networks operating from Yemen into Saudi territory are directly linked to the Houthi militants.

He noted that the battalion had previously arrested a Houthi leader attempting to enter Saudi Arabia using a forged passport and Umrah visa, suggesting the motives were security-related rather than religious.

Regarding the latest operation, Al-Assad said preliminary investigations indicate that most drug shipments intercepted at the crossing originate from Houthi-controlled areas.

He accused the group of relying on drug trafficking as a source of funding for its activities, posing a threat to Yemen’s national security, neighboring countries, and regional stability.

The battalion’s mission includes securing and protecting the Al-Wadiah crossing, combating various forms of smuggling, including drugs, human trafficking, forged documents, and unidentified individuals, and arresting wanted suspects, including members of al-Qaeda and fugitives evading court rulings.

Arab World

Sudan Government Condemns Ugandan President’s Talks with Hemedti

Hemedti at the presidential palace in Entebbe on Feb. 20, 2026 (President Museveni’s page on X).
Hemedti at the presidential palace in Entebbe on Feb. 20, 2026 (President Museveni’s page on X).
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Sudan Government Condemns Ugandan President’s Talks with Hemedti

Hemedti at the presidential palace in Entebbe on Feb. 20, 2026 (President Museveni’s page on X).
Hemedti at the presidential palace in Entebbe on Feb. 20, 2026 (President Museveni’s page on X).

The Sudanese government has condemned “in the strongest terms” Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s meeting with Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo calling the move “unprecedented” and an affront to humanity and the Sudanese people.

In a statement issued Sunday, Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the ceremonial welcome accorded to Dagalo, known as Hemedti, in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, mocked “the souls of innocent citizens killed in the war, whose dignity was violated and whose property was looted” by the RSF.

The Ministry added that Uganda’s action “contravenes the principles governing member states of regional and international organizations,” particularly the obligation not to offer support to armed groups rebelling against a legitimate government recognized internationally.

Museveni met Hemedti on Friday at the presidential palace in Entebbe, where the two discussed efforts to end the ongoing war in Sudan. The talks also addressed regional and international initiatives aimed at reaching a political settlement to the conflict.

The meeting marked Hemedti’s first prominent regional appearance in several months. According to Dagalo, the discussions included what he described as a “Ugandan vision” for ending the war.

In its statement, Sudan’s Foreign Ministry acknowledged Uganda’s sovereign right to host whomever it chooses in accordance with its national interests. However, it expressed “deep concern” that the meeting could signal a shift in Kampala’s policy toward Sudan.

The Ministry urged the Ugandan government, in the interest of bilateral relations, good neighborliness, and non-interference in internal affairs, to distance itself from the RSF commander and not allow him to use Ugandan territory for political purposes.

Speaking to members of the Sudanese community in Entebbe, Hemedti said his visit came at the invitation of Museveni, who, he claimed, had been asked by Sudan’s government to intervene in efforts to help end the war.

In a post on the social media platform X, Museveni confirmed that he had received the RSF commander at the presidential residence in Entebbe and had listened to a detailed briefing on developments in Sudan.

He stressed that dialogue and a peaceful political settlement remain the only viable path to stability in Sudan and to ensuring security across the region.

Hemedti’s visit to Uganda came just one week after Museveni hosted Malik Agar, Vice Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereignty Council, allegedly as part of regional and international efforts to secure a ceasefire and lay the groundwork for a comprehensive political solution to Sudan’s ongoing conflict.

Arab World

ISIS Lashes Out at Syria's Sharaa, Announces ‘New Phase of Operations’

A Syrian government soldier outside Al-Aqtan prison in Raqqa, which holds ISIS detainees (AFP)
A Syrian government soldier outside Al-Aqtan prison in Raqqa, which holds ISIS detainees (AFP)
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ISIS Lashes Out at Syria's Sharaa, Announces ‘New Phase of Operations’

A Syrian government soldier outside Al-Aqtan prison in Raqqa, which holds ISIS detainees (AFP)
A Syrian government soldier outside Al-Aqtan prison in Raqqa, which holds ISIS detainees (AFP)

Syria’s Defense Ministry said on Sunday that a Syrian army soldier and a ‌civilian were killed a day earlier by “unknown assailants” in the northern city of Raqqa.

ISIS claimed ‌responsibility for two attacks targeting Syrian army personnel in northern and eastern Syria.

The militant group said on its Dabiq news agency that it had targeted “an individual of the apostate Syrian regime” in the city of Mayadin in Deir Ezzor province using a pistol, and attacked two other personnel with machine guns in Raqqa.

The attacks came after ISIS blasted Syria’s interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, calling him a “puppet without a soul” controlled by Western countries, adding that his fate eventually will be similar to that of ousted leader Bashar Assad.

In an audio message released late Saturday by the group’s spokesman, who identifies himself as Abu Huzaifa al-Ansari, he called on ISIS followers around the world to attack Jewish and Western targets as they have in past years.

The ‌group also said it had begun a “new phase of operations” in Syria.

Al-Ansari sent greetings to ISIS militants from the group’s leader Abu Hafs al-Hashemi al-Qurayshi who was named as the head of the group three years ago.

The audio is the first to be released by the group in months and comes after ISIS was blamed for attacks that left dozens dead or wounded in recent months in Syria, Iraq, Pakistan and other parts of the world.

The latest incidents come two days after ISIS claimed responsibility for another attack in Deir Ezzor that killed a member of the Interior Ministry’s internal security forces and wounded another.

In December, the group was blamed for an attack in central Syria that left three Americans dead and triggered intense US airstrikes on the extremists’ suspected hideouts in the country.