UNRWA and its head Philippe Lazzarini nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

The Nobel Committee announced on Thursday, October 3, the list of nominees for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize. In Israel, this list caused shock and outrage: among the nominees were the UN Relief Agency for Palestine Refugees UNRWA and its head, Philippe Lazzarini.

The explanation for the decision states that UNRWA and its more than 30,000 employees “serve nearly six million Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and neighboring countries. Almost the entire population of Gaza depends on UNRWA.”

The Nobel committee points out that UNRWA “has been facing a funding crisis for many years, which has been deepened by the war and Israeli claims that 12 of the October 7 attacks were Hamas operatives hired by UNRWA. The agency took the allegations seriously, launching it as an internal investigation. and external verification, and stopped hiring persons who, for any reason, may have links to militant groups.”

An explanation on the Nobel Committee’s website also states that during the war, UNRWA “has come under attack from Israel, with 224 agency staff killed and 190 UNRWA facilities damaged as of late September in Gaza.” The Nobel Committee does not mention the numerous facts of UNRWA employees working for Hamas, nor the numerous facts of the location of Hamas headquarters and weapons depots in those very “UNRWA facilities.”