UN chief 'regrets' Israel denying UNRWA from delivering aid to Gaza

By Merve Aydogan

HAMILTON, Canada (AA) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed regret over Israel's decision to obstruct the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) from delivering vital aid to Gaza, said deputy spokesperson on Monday.

"The Secretary-General regrets the decision by Israel to deny the UN Relief and Works Agency from delivering life-saving aid to the north of Gaza, where seven out of every 10 people are already on the brink of famine," UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said during a press briefing.

Calling for the immediate reversal of the decision, Guterres emphasized the critical importance of humanitarian aid in alleviating suffering in the region.

"The Secretary-General underscores that UNRWA is and will remain the beating heart of aid delivery in Gaza, providing people in need with food, shelter and protection," Haq noted.

Haq further stated that Guterres reiterated Israel's obligation to permit and facilitate the "rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian aid into and across Gaza."

Israel had informed UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini over the weekend that it would no longer approve any UNRWA food convoys to the north.

“This is outrageous and makes it intentional to obstruct lifesaving assistance during a man-made famine,” Lazzarini warned on the social media platform X.

Israel has accused 12 of UNRWA’s 30,000 employees of involvement in the Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.

Several Western countries, including the US, suspended their funding to the UN refugee agency pending investigations into the Israeli allegations.

The EU, Canada and Sweden, however, later announced that they would proceed with funding for UNRWA as Israel has yet to present any evidence publicly to support its allegations.

UNRWA was created by the UN General Assembly more than 70 years ago to assist Palestinians who were forcibly displaced from their land.

The agency provides crucial support to millions of Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and other areas where large numbers of registered Palestinians live.

Meanwhile, German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit warned Israel against a ground military offensive in Rafah, southern Gaza, but unlike the US, ruled out possible political consequences for Tel Aviv should it decide to storm the city.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on Gaza since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed.

More than 32,200 Palestinians have since been killed and over 74,500 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.