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Summary version from DEVEX
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems to have yielded to pressure from U.S. President Joe Biden to open up more humanitarian routes into what's left of the Gaza Strip.
At the same time, Israel has been ramping up its own pressure campaign to disrupt and dismantle UNRWA, the U.N. agency leading the humanitarian response in Gaza, sparking concern among senior U.N. officials that the action is undermining international efforts to halt suffering and famine in the strip.
On April 1, Israel denied a request by UNRWA to evacuate injured Palestinians and assess the damage at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City following the latest Israeli raid, according to a copy of the email denial reviewed by my colleague Colum Lynch.
The blockage of safe passage for UNRWA — which was part of a scheduled convoy to the north led by WHO — prompted the U.N. health agency to cancel its plans to visit al-Shifa. In the end, WHO was able to access the hospital nearly two weeks after its initial attempt.
The episode illustrates the degree to which even U.N. agencies encouraged and authorized to deliver assistance by Israel have been stymied. Topping that list is UNRWA, even though it possesses critical logistical and security expertise that other U.N. agencies lack in Gaza.
"UNRWA, as we have said over and over again, is the backbone of our humanitarian operations," Stéphane Dujarric, the U.N.'s chief spokesperson said at an April 3 press conference in response to a question from Devex. "No one has the resources, the manpower, the logistics networks that UNRWA has."
That said, he added: "It's not as if we're seeing a situation where WFP [World Food Programme] convoys are being waved through with a green flag into the north. I mean the challenges are U.N.-wide."
Click here for the full article in DEVEX
Summary version from DEVEX
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems to have yielded to pressure from U.S. President Joe Biden to open up more humanitarian routes into what's left of the Gaza Strip.
At the same time, Israel has been ramping up its own pressure campaign to disrupt and dismantle UNRWA, the U.N. agency leading the humanitarian response in Gaza, sparking concern among senior U.N. officials that the action is undermining international efforts to halt suffering and famine in the strip.
On April 1, Israel denied a request by UNRWA to evacuate injured Palestinians and assess the damage at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City following the latest Israeli raid, according to a copy of the email denial reviewed by my colleague Colum Lynch.
The blockage of safe passage for UNRWA — which was part of a scheduled convoy to the north led by WHO — prompted the U.N. health agency to cancel its plans to visit al-Shifa. In the end, WHO was able to access the hospital nearly two weeks after its initial attempt.
The episode illustrates the degree to which even U.N. agencies encouraged and authorized to deliver assistance by Israel have been stymied. Topping that list is UNRWA, even though it possesses critical logistical and security expertise that other U.N. agencies lack in Gaza.
"UNRWA, as we have said over and over again, is the backbone of our humanitarian operations," Stéphane Dujarric, the U.N.'s chief spokesperson said at an April 3 press conference in response to a question from Devex. "No one has the resources, the manpower, the logistics networks that UNRWA has."
That said, he added: "It's not as if we're seeing a situation where WFP [World Food Programme] convoys are being waved through with a green flag into the north. I mean the challenges are U.N.-wide."
Click here for the full article in DEVEX
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