UN refugee agency chief decries Israeli aid cut to Gaza civilians

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) – The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) condemned on Tuesday an Israeli decision to stop the entry of humanitarian aid into the blockaded Gaza Strip.

"The decision of Israel to stop aid into Gaza threatens the lives of civilians exhausted by 16 months of brutal war," UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement on his X account.

"Humanitarian aid must continue to flow at scale similar to what we’ve seen over the past six weeks when the ceasefire began. This brought respite and relief to people in need.”

The Israeli government halted the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza on Sunday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to start negotiations on the second phase of a ceasefire deal between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas.

“The vast majority of the people in Gaza rely on aid for their sheer survival," Lazzarini said.

The UNRWA chief stressed that aid and basic services "are nonnegotiable," and "must never be used as weapons of war."

Nearly 48,400 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and over 111,000 others injured in the Israeli war since October 2023. The onslaught, which left the enclave in ruins, was paused under a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold on Jan. 19.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.