The UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) is “hanging on by our fingertips”, its commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini has said.

In a letter to the president of the UN general assembly, Dennis Francis, Lazzarini said: “We are hanging on by our fingertips. If UNRWA collapses, humanitarian assistance in Gaza will also collapse.

“UNRWA is, as of today, still operational in Gaza, though just barely.

Our staff are still operating health centres, managing shelters and supporting traumatised people, some arriving carrying their dead children,“ he said.