Juliette Touma, the director of communications at UNRWA, has called for Israel’s ban on the agency to be lifted immediately.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Touma said “international staff of the agency can no longer get visas from Israel to work in the occupied Palestinian territory”.

“We rely on the frontline, Palestinian local workers, 17,000 of them have been holding the fort and delivering services, including education, in East Jerusalem,” she added.

Touma stressed the dangers faced by UNRWA’s staff, saying: “Humanitarian workers have become a target in this war. We see this only at UNRWA – we are seeing nearly 300 of our colleagues have been killed, many of them during the line of duty while serving their communities.”

Despite the escalating challenges, Touma said UNRWA’s local staff continue to provide essential services to Palestinian communities, even as international staff are increasingly blocked from working on the ground.