Tamara Alrifai, director of external relations at UNRWA, has told Al Jazeera that the body has 12,000 Palestinian staff who “have not stopped working in Gaza – even though Israeli legislation has banned the entry of international staff into Gaza”.

She said international colleagues have been managing the agency’s humanitarian response and services remotely.

The inability to engage directly with the Israeli government has also significantly affected daily logistics and UNRWA’s ability to roll out life-saving support programmes, Alrifai added.