UN Watch is calling on the UN Secretary-General to immediately lift any immunity enjoyed by outgoing UNRWA chief: "We warned repeatedly"
As Philippe Lazzarini’s tenure as head of UNRWA draws to a close, UN Watch is calling on UN Secretary‑General António Guterres to immediately lift any immunity enjoyed by the departing senior UN official so that competent national authorities can investigate and prosecute him for alleged complicity in terrorism, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The request was submitted in an official legal letter citing Article 20 of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations. The letter argues that immunity exists solely to protect the interests of the UN, not individual officials, and must be waived.
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| Tunnel under UNRWA headquarters in Gaza |
“For years we repeatedly warned Mr. Lazzarini that Hamas had deeply penetrated UNRWA,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch. “We provided detailed evidence identifying teachers, school principals, union leaders and other staff affiliated with Hamas. We documented repeated meetings between senior UNRWA officials, including Mr. Lazzarini himself and leaders of Hamas and other terrorist organizations. Despite this, he continued to reassure governments that UNRWA’s neutrality mechanisms were effective while overseeing an agency whose staff, facilities and resources were exploited by terrorist groups.”
UN Watch alleges that despite repeated warnings, Lazzarini continued to oversee the payment of salaries to thousands of UNRWA employees in Gaza, many of whom have since been shown to have deep ties to Hamas and other terrorist organizations, while continuing to run facilities that provided terrorist groups with access to students, infrastructure and institutional legitimacy. The letter states these facts provide reasonable grounds to investigate whether Lazzarini knowingly facilitated or materially supported individuals and entities involved in terr
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