UN hits out over Israel’s efforts to get more aid to Palestinians
Israel’s commitments to improve aid access in the Gaza Strip have had “limited and sometimes nil” impact, UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said yesterday as he pushed for urgent, meaningful and measurable progress to avert famine.
The United Nations has long complained of obstacles to getting aid in and distributing it throughout Gaza during the six-month-old war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which rules the enclave of 2.3 million people.
“To avert imminent famine, and further preventable deaths from disease, we need a quantum leap in humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza. Food is essential; so are clean water, sanitation, and healthcare,” Mr Guterres told the Security Council.
Israel recently reopened the Erez crossing into northern Gaza and allowed the temporary use of Ashdod port in southern Israel after US president Joe Biden demanded steps to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying conditions could be placed on US support for Israel if it did not act.
“Apparent progress in one area is often cancelled out by delays and restrictions elsewhere,” said Mr Guterres.
“For example, although the Israeli authorities have cleared more aid convoys, those clearances are often granted when it is too late in the day to make deliveries and return safely,” he said. “So the impact is limited, and sometimes nil.”
The US State Department said there had been “some measurable progress” on getting aid into Gaza. “But the circumstances within Gaza continue to be dire and more absolutely needs to be done. The crisis that we’re seeing demands rapid expansion of these efforts,” said State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel.
Mr Guterres said three World Food Programme convoys – a total of 25 trucks – were authorised to use the Erez crossing on April 14, 15 and 16.
He also said that operating hours of Kerem Shalom and Nitzana crossings had been expanded by Israel, but security concerns meant the hours could not be expanded in Gaza.
The UN and aid groups need to use all possible routes and crossings into and throughout every part of Gaza, and also require Israel’s full and active facilitation of aid operations “and improved and direct communications between humanitarians and military decision-makers on the ground,” Mr Guterres added.
Israel’s UN ambassador Gilad Erdan did not directly address the humanitarian situation in Gaza when he spoke to the Security Council yesterday, but he called out the 15-member body for its focus on the conflict.
“The amount of time, effort, and resources poured into Gaza makes it seem as if the rest of the world is a pure utopia. That outside of Gaza, we live in a carefree world. Hakuna Matata,” he said.
At least 33,970 Palestinians have been killed and 76,770 wounded in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since October 7, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement yesterday.
The Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attacked the United States for earlier blocking United Nations resolutions calling for a ceasefire in Gaza after a meeting with his counterpart in Indonesia.
The Chinese and Indonesian foreign ministers reiterated their countries’ calls for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza after a meeting in Jakarta yesterday, condemning the humanitarian costs of Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas.
The US, together with Egypt and Qatar, brokered a brief ceasefire earlier in the war that included some swaps of hostages taken by Hamas and other militant groups in return for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, and has sought to bring about a new deal. But the US vetoed a number of proposed UN Security Council ceasefire resolutions because they didn’t tie the calls directly to the release of Israel hostages or condemn Hamas’ attack that prompted the war before allowing a resolution to pass with an abstention late last month.
The meeting took place on the second day of a six-day tour during which Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi will also visit Papua New Guinea and Cambodia.
Indonesia’s minister of foreign affairs Retno Marsudi said the two countries share the same view about the importance of a ceasefire and of resolving the Palestinian problem through a twostate solution.
Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, has long been a strong supporter of the Palestinians and does not recognise Israel.
“I am sure that China would use its influence to prevent escalation,” Mr Marsudi said, adding that China and Indonesia “would also fully support Palestine’s membership in the UN”.