Israel bans UNRWA aid trucks to north Gaza as attacks continue

UNITED NATIONS: Israel informed the United Nations on Sunday that it will no longer approve the passage of any UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, food convoys into northern Gaza.

“This is outrageous and makes it intentional to obstruct lifesaving assistance during a man-made famine. These restrictions must be lifted,” UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said on social media platform X.

“As of today, UNRWA, the main lifeline for Palestine refugees, is denied from providing lifesaving assistance to northern Gaza,” Lazzarini wrote.

He underlined the need to lift this ban, adding that UNRWA – the backbone of the humanitarian response in Gaza – is the largest relief agency in the Strip and has the greatest ability to reach displaced communities there.

“Despite the tragedy unfolding under our watch, the Israeli authorities informed the UN that they will no longer approve any UNRWA food convoys to the north. This is outrageous & makes it intentional to obstruct lifesaving assistance during a man-made famine,” he wrote. “These restrictions must be lifted,” Lazzarini added.

“By preventing UNRWA to fulfill its mandate in Gaza, the clock will tick faster towards famine & many more will die of hunger, dehydration + lack of shelter,” he warned. “This cannot happen, it would only stain our collective humanity.”

World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also slammed the new order. “Blocking UNRWA from delivering food is in fact denying starving people the ability to survive,” he said in a social media post.

“This decision must be urgently reversed,” he continued. “The levels of hunger are acute. All efforts to deliver food should not only be permitted but there should be an immediate acceleration of food deliveries.”

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report on Gaza Strip stated last week that famine is imminent in the northern part of the Strip and is expected to occur between now and May in the two northern governorates, which are home to about 300,000 people.

Upon the report’s release, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres described the findings as an “appalling indictment of conditions on the ground for civilians”.

“Palestinians in Gaza are enduring horrifying levels of hunger and suffering,” he said at the time. “This is an entirely man-made disaster, and the report makes clear that it can be halted.”

The UN chief is currently in the region on his annual Ramadan solidarity trip, having visited with Palestinian women and children injured by Israeli attacks on Gaza, and strongly renewed his call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. His trip included a visit to the Rafah border crossing into Gaza and planned meetings in Egypt and Jordan.

Earlier on Sunday, Guterres met the press in Cairo, reiterating that call. “Palestinians in Gaza desperately need what has been promised: a flood of aid,” he said, “not trickles, not drops.”

He said some progress has been made, but much more needs to be done, and making that increasing aid flows requires very practical steps. Israel must remove ‘chokepoints to relief’

“It requires Israel removing the remaining obstacles and chokepoints to relief,” Guterres said. “It requires more crossings and access points. All alternative routes are, of course, welcome, but the only efficient and effective way to move heavy goods is by road. It requires an exponential increase in commercial goods, and, I repeat, it requires an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.”

He said efforts must ensure that ample aid shipments are delivered as soon as possible. “The current horrors in Gaza serve no one and are having an impact around the globe,” he said. “The daily assault on the human dignity of Palestinians is creating a crisis of credibility for the international community.”

Early on Sunday, UNRWA’s Commissioner-General said that there will be widespread consequences for Palestine refugees in Gaza and the region following the newly passed United States foreign aid spending bill for 2024, which limits funding to the agency until March 2025.

He said the humanitarian community in Gaza is racing against time to avoid famine and that any gap in funding for UNRWA will undermine access to food, shelter, primary health care and education at an extremely difficult time.

Palestine refugees are counting on the international community to increase its support to meet their basic needs, he said. UNRWA supports about 5.9 million Palestinian refugees in its five areas of operations: Gaza, the West Bank including East Jerusalem, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

Lazzarini expressed his appreciation for UNRWA’s supporters from members of the US Congress “who are speaking on behalf of the agency during this difficult period” and for US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s support last week with the European Union.

The UNRWA chief stressed that the agency will continue to work with the US on the path of joint commitment towards Palestine refugees and peace and stability throughout the region.

He said that UNRWA, along with donors and partners, will continue to implement its mandate entrusted to it by the UN General Assembly to protect the rights of Palestine refugees until a lasting political solution is reached.