Israeli authorities impede UN-led assessment in West Bank, hindering humanitarian response

​​​​​​​By Merve Aydogan

HAMILTON, Canada (AA) - The UN warned Tuesday about the Israeli army's continued "use of lethal war-like tactics" in the occupied West Bank and said humanitarian assessments by aid groups were denied by authorities.

"Today, multiple organizations mobilized by OCHA (Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) were set to carry out an assessment in Jenin but were denied access by the Israeli authorities," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

Dujarric warned that "access impediments are impacting the ability to provide meaningful humanitarian response,” citing the OCHA. "The movement of ambulances and medical teams has been impeded and delayed since the onset of the now-week-long operation.”

Dujarric also stressed that the Israeli army's "lethal war-like tactics," including airstrikes, are leading to "people being killed, injured, displaced or deprived of access to basic services."

"Operations have now resumed in Tulkarm, while continuing in Jenin. The UN has recorded more than two dozen fatalities over the past week, including children," he said.

He said the UN is closely following developments in the West Bank as well as the Gaza Strip, and warned they are "heading very much in the wrong direction."

Dujarric stated that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is closely following the polio vaccination campaign that started Sept. 1 in Gaza.

"He's been moved by images of young children receiving the vaccination in the midst of rubble and utter ruin," said Dujarric, adding that "polio pauses are a rare ray of hope and humanity in the cascades of horror that we have seen in Gaza."

The campaign is taking place against the backdrop of Israel's continued military attacks in Gaza, which have resulted in over 40,700 Palestinian deaths since an incursion by Hamas last October.

The urgency of the campaign was underscored by the confirmation of Gaza’s first polio case in 25 years in a 10-month-old child last month.

Noting that the second phase of the vaccination program should take place in four weeks, Dujarric said, "It is essential that all of these children get their second doses. We hope that Israel and all those other involved and the Palestinian factions that are fighting agree to a pause so children can be vaccinated."

Dujarric conveyed Guterres' condemnation of the recent killing of six hostages and reiterated the UN chief's demand for the immediate release of hostages and a cease-fire.

On Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent news conference displaying a map of Israel where the occupied West Bank was "annexed," Dujarric said it was not the first time Netanyahu had done this, and he had shown a similar map during his UN General Assembly address last year.

"Our position is clear. Our map is clear. The display of such maps is not a good sign, and is not particularly helpful," said Dujarric.

The Israeli premier appeared in front of a wall-sized digital map on Monday that obliterated the West Bank. Palestinians decried the move as an explicit annexation of the occupied territory by Tel Aviv.