ATLANTA — The former head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees has issued a stinging indictment of the global response to Israel's war on Gaza, saying the international community has effectively acknowledged the territory's destruction while failing to stop it.
Philippe Lazzarini, who stepped down as commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) earlier this year, told the French newspaper Le Monde that the scale of devastation in Gaza is no longer a matter of dispute. "The destruction of Gaza has been acknowledged by the international community," Lazzarini said. "It's a disgrace."
The remarks, published Tuesday, come as the death toll in Gaza surpasses 45,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, with thousands more buried under rubble. Entire neighborhoods have been reduced to debris, hospitals have been repeatedly attacked, and more than 1.9 million people—nearly the entire population—have been forcibly displaced, many multiple times. Aid agencies, including UNRWA, have described a man-made famine taking hold in northern Gaza, where Israeli military operations have cut off food, water, and medical supplies.
Lazzarini's tenure at UNRWA was marked by unprecedented challenges, including the Israeli Knesset's passage of legislation banning the agency from operating inside Israel and occupied East Jerusalem, and a funding crisis triggered by unproven Israeli allegations that a small number of UNRWA employees participated in the October 7 attacks. Those allegations led major donors, including the United States, to suspend funding for months, crippling the agency's ability to provide education, healthcare, and emergency aid to millions of Palestinian refugees.
Human rights organizations have documented what they describe as clear violations of international humanitarian law. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have both issued reports concluding that Israel is committing apartheid against Palestinians, while a United Nations commission of inquiry has found evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity on both sides, though overwhelmingly attributed to Israeli forces. The International Court of Justice is currently weighing a case brought by South Africa alleging that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
For Atlanta's Palestinian-American and Muslim communities, Lazzarini's words resonate deeply. The city has seen repeated protests, interfaith vigils, and calls from faith leaders for an immediate ceasefire and an end to U.S. military aid to Israel. Local organizations such as the Georgia Palestine Solidarity Network and Jewish Voice for Peace Atlanta have organized educational events and direct actions, while several Atlanta City Council members have signed onto resolutions calling for a ceasefire and humanitarian access.
"We hear the same frustration from our community that Lazzarini is expressing," said one Atlanta-based Palestinian-American activist who asked not to be named due to safety concerns. "People are tired of the world watching this happen in real time and doing nothing but offering condolences."
At the national level, the Biden administration has continued to provide military assistance to Israel while publicly urging greater restraint—a stance that critics say makes the United States complicit in the destruction. President Joe Biden has acknowledged the suffering in Gaza but has not conditioned aid on compliance with international law, despite pressure from progressive Democrats and human rights groups.
Lazzarini's statement underscores a growing consensus among international legal experts: the scale of destruction in Gaza is not collateral damage but the predictable outcome of a military campaign that has systematically targeted civilian infrastructure. Schools, universities, mosques, churches, water treatment plants, and more than two-thirds of Gaza's homes have been damaged or destroyed, according to satellite imagery analyzed by the United Nations.
The former UNRWA chief has called for an independent international investigation and for Israel to be held accountable under the Genocide Convention and the Geneva Conventions. He has also warned that the collapse of UNRWA would have catastrophic consequences for the region, leaving millions of Palestinian refugees without access to basic services and further destabilizing neighboring countries.
For many in Atlanta, the question is no longer whether the destruction is happening, but whether elected officials in Washington and Atlanta will act to stop it. "We are watching history unfold," said a member of Jewish Voice for Peace Atlanta. "And history will judge us by what we did—or didn't do—when we had the power to intervene."
As the war enters its second year with no end in sight, Lazzarini's words serve as a blunt reminder that the international community's failure to enforce its own laws is not an abstraction. It is measured in the bodies of children pulled from rubble, in the cries of mothers searching for food, and in the silent resignation of a world that has learned to look away.