Star Metro - Israel and UN clash over aid to Gaza

The humanitarian situation in Gaza, where Israel has imposed a two-month aid blockade, is dire, with food security experts saying starvation is looming for one in five people.

"While the UN spreads panic and makes declarations detached from reality, the state of Israel is steadily facilitating the entry of aid into Gaza," Israel's United Nations Ambassador Danny Danon told the Security Council.

He said the assistance was entering by trucks -- under limited authorization by Israel at the Kerem Shalom crossing since last week following the blockade -- and via a "new distribution mechanism developed in coordination with the US and key international partners."

Danon was referring to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private, US-backed aid group that has established its own distribution system, one the United Nations considers contrary to its humanitarian principles.

A chaotic distribution of aid at a GHF center Tuesday left 47 people wounded.

Israel's ambassador blamed Hamas for the tumult, saying the Palestinian group set up roadblocks and checkpoints to block access to the distribution center.

He accused the UN of "trying to block" the aid.

The United Nations "is using threats, intimidation and retaliation against NGOs that choose to participate in the new humanitarian mechanism," Danon added.

- 'Will not participate' -

Danon specifically accused the United Nations of having removed these nongovernmental organizations from a database listing groups working in Gaza, an accusation rejected by the UN.

"There are no differences between the current list and the one from before the launch of the GHF," Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, told AFP.

But the UN reiterated its opposition to coordinating with GHF.

"We will not participate in operations that do not meet our humanitarian principles," insisted Dujarric.

He also said the UN was doing all it could to gather the aid arriving through Kerem Shalom.

Since last week 800 truckloads were approved by Israel but fewer than 500 made it into Gaza, according to Dujarric.

"We and our partners could collect just over 200 of them, limited by insecurity and restricted access," he said.

"If we're not able to pick up those goods, I can tell you one thing, it is not for lack of trying."

Danon had said "more than 400 trucks" full of aid were already on the Gaza side of the crossing and that Israel had provided "safe routes" for the distribution.

"But the UN did not show up," the Israeli envoy said. "Put your ego aside, pick up the aid and do your job."

Israeli military operations in Gaza have killed at least 54,804 people, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry there. The UN considers the figures reliable.

The punishing offensive has reduced much of the Palestinian territory to rubble -- including hospitals, schools and other basic infrastructure -- and resulted in the displacement of almost all of its roughly two million people.

Israel launched its operations in response to the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas, which killed 1,218 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

A.Desjardins--SMC