Ankara, June 21 (QNA) - The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said: "The newly created, so-called 'aid mechanism' is an abomination that humiliates and degrades desperate people," adding: "It is a death-trap, costing more lives than it saves." This came in Lazzarini's statement at the 51st session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which convened in Turkiye on Saturday, where he added: "Food is weaponized, and Palestinians are dehumanized, without consequence." Commenting on the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip that have begun on October 7, 2023, the UNRWA Commissioner-General said: "More than 55,000 people are reported killed, most of them women and children." He added: "Those still alive are shadows of their former selves; their lives forever changed by unspeakable trauma and profound loss." With regard to the occupied West Bank, Lazzarini said that Palestinians have been displaced from camps in the north at levels not seen since 1967, adding: "Public infrastructure is systematically destroyed so Palestinians cannot return, and the demography of camps is permanently altered," and that "Annexation is progressing steadily." "Across the occupied Palestinian territory, we are witnessing the implementation of a long-standing project to undermine the viability of a Palestinian State, and to separate Palestinians from Palestine," the UNRWA Commissioner-General said. Lazzarini said that since the war began, at least 318 UNRWA personnel have been killed in Gaza, many with their families, while international UNRWA staff have been effectively expelled from the occupied Palestinian territory as a consequence of recent Israeli legislation, however, he added that UNRWA's Palestinian staff have shown courage and determination despite arrests, intimidation and harassment. On funding, "UNRWA’s financial situation is dire," said Lazzarini, adding: "Without additional funding, I will soon have to take unprecedented decisions affecting our operations across the region." The UNRWA Commissioner-General appealed to the OIC and its members to throw their full political and financial weight behind efforts to safeguard Palestine Refugees' access to protection and essential services. (QNA)