UN affirms that Israel informed it that it will block humanitarian aid to the north of the Gaza Strip

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The Commissioner General of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarinistated this Sunday that Israel has communicated to the UN that it will not approve more humanitarian convoys headed to the north of the Gaza Strip, where famine is already a reality.

“Despite the tragedy unfolding on our watch, Israeli authorities have informed the UN that they will no longer approve any UNRWA food convoys to the north,” Lazzarini said in a statement.

Israel will not approve new humanitarian aid for northern Gaza

The commissioner recalled that UNRWA, which provides services to almost 6 million Palestinians in different countries and is the main humanitarian actor in the Gaza Strip, In the midst of war, it is “the main support” for more than 2 million displaced people internal to the enclave and the only one who can provide “life support” in the north.

“This is outrageous and makes it intentional to obstruct attendance to save lives during a man-made famine. These restrictions must be lifted,” Lazzarini cried.

The commissioner indicated that if UNRWA is prevented from fulfilling its mandate in Gaza, “time will run faster towards famine and many more will die of hunger, dehydration and lack of shelter“.

International pressures

The news comes as international pressure is growing for Israel to allow more humanitarian aid access to the Gaza Strip.

Israel does not hide its intentions to expel UNRWA from the Strip and accuses the institution of have direct links to the Islamist group Hamasafter revealing in January that 12 of its 30,000 employees participated in the October 7 attacks, although Lazzarini assures that they did not present conclusive evidence.

Israel maintains that Hamas infiltration of the agency is much deeper and that more than 2,130 of its employees in Gaza, about 17%, have active ties to “terrorist” groups, some 480 are members of the armed wings of Hamas or the Islamic Jihad and 1,650 belong to the political movement.

However, countries such as Canada, Sweden, Australia and the European Union itself have announced in recent weeks their intention to resume funding to UNRWA before the inconsistency of evidence presented by Israel about links to Hamas.