Israel will not renew visa of top UN humanitarian official
Israel has declined to renew the visa for Jonathan Whittall, the senior UN aid official for the Palestinian territories, a UN spokesperson said on Friday, adding there were intensifying threats of reduced access to suffering civilians.
Eri Kaneko, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said visas for UN staff were recently renewed for shorter periods than usual and access requests to Gaza were denied for multiple agencies. Kaneko said permits for Palestinian staff to enter east Jerusalem were also withheld.
"Last week, it was indicated to us that our current Head of Office, Jonathan Whittall, won't have his visa extended by Israeli authorities beyond August. This came immediately after remarks he made at a press briefing about starving people being killed while trying to reach food," Kaneko said.
Israel's mission to the UN did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Israel has previously dismissed UN criticism as being biased.
Gaza is in the midst of an Israeli military assault following a deadly October 2023 attack by Hamas terrorists. Terrorists murdered over 1,200 people during their violation of an existing ceasefire and took over 250 hostages - 50 of whom remain in captivity, and less than half of whom are understood to be alive.
Tensions between Israel and the UN
Released and rescued hostages have testified about experiencing and witnessing abuses in Hamas captivity, including acts of sexual violence and torture.
Israel has come under mounting criticism from the UN during its war in the Palestinian enclave, which has internally displaced Gaza's entire population.
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CBS News
25 minutes ago
- CBS News
Senate Democrats urge U.S. to stop funding GHF, resume support for U.N. food distribution in Gaza as more starve
A group of Democratic senators led by Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland is urging the Trump administration to suspend American financial support for the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a private food distribution organization that has been heavily criticized for the way it delivers food aid to Gazans and because so many have been killed trying to reach its distribution sites. The U.S. and Israel have advocated for the recently established GHF to replace the United Nations, which has built an extensive network of humanitarian workers inside Gaza over decades. Israel accuses the U.N. of bias and collusion with Hamas. In a letter sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio Sunday, the 21 senators expressed "grave" concerns about "the U.S. role in and financial support for the troubled GHF." "We urge you to immediately cease all U.S. funding for GHF and resume support for the existing UN-led aid coordination mechanisms with enhanced oversight to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches civilians in need," the letter reads. The U.N. warns that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is growing increasingly dire as more Palestinians are in danger of starvation after a months-long Israeli blockade, and recent military operations complicated humanitarian efforts to help. The IDF claims there is no starvation. Van Hollen, who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as well as the powerful Appropriations Committee, told CBS News "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" Sunday, "American taxpayers should not be spending one penny to fund this private organization backed by mercenaries and by the IDF that has become a death trap," noting that scores of Gazans were shot and killed as starving people crowded the GHF sites to obtain food. The letter focuses on a $30 million pledge from the State Department, announced last month, and on GHF's operations, particularly its use of armed contractors who stand behind IDF soldiers at food distribution sites in four designated military zones. Starving Gazans must travel to those areas, which is difficult for those too weak to move. "Blurring the lines between delivery of aid and security operations shatters well-established norms that have governed distribution of humanitarian aid since the ratification of the Geneva Conventions in 1949," the letter says. U.S. allies have also been critical of the tactics used by the U.S. and Israeli-backed GHF. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told Margaret Brennan Sunday on "Face the Nation" that Gaza is on the "brink of food catastrophe" and that France expects "the Israeli government to stop the operations of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation that has caused [a] bloodbath in humanitarian health distribution lines in Gaza." U.N. Secretary General António Guterres said Friday that a thousand Palestinians have been killed trying to access food since May 27. "We hold video calls with our own humanitarians who are starving before our eyes," Guterres said. "We will continue to speak out at every opportunity. But words don't feed hungry children." The U.N. human rights office said 1,054 people were killed while trying to obtain food since late May, and of those, 766 were killed while trying to reach sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The others were killed when gunfire erupted around U.N. convoys or aid sites. The group of senators led by Van Hollen are seeking answers about whether necessary oversight is being bypassed to benefit the GHF. Their letter cites public reports that the Trump administration authorized the funds under a "priority directive," which meant it could avoid "a comprehensive audit that is usually required for groups receiving USAID grants for the first time." The senators want to see the GHF's "complete funding application and all supporting documentation" and demand to know whether any statutory and regulatory requirements were waived. They also asked Rubio about the procurement mechanism that resulted in the $30 million in funding, and they want to know who signed the agreement, who might be liable for compliance violations and whether officials were aware of potential concerns raised by USAID about "GHF's ability to protect Palestinians while delivering food aid." The State Department has not responded to a CBS News request for comment about the senators' letter. A department spokesperson said Friday that the funding has been allocated, but it has not yet been disbursed to GHF. On Saturday, amid international outcry, the Israel Defense Force began airdrops of humanitarian aid into Gaza and said it would establish humanitarian corridors to "enable the safe movement of UN convoys delivering food and medicine to the population." The U.N. has said the airdrops are insufficient. Past airdrops have fallen on Gazans and killed them. Now the approximately 2 million people live in Gaza and have been herded into an even more limited zone that lacks extensive open space where air-dropped pallets can land. Israel's announcement came after extensive international outcry at images of starving children, and reports of death. Leaders in Europe, including French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Fredreich Merz, coordinated Saturday by phone. A readout of the call released by the UK said the three leaders said the situation in Gaza is "appalling" and "emphasized the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire, for Israel to lift all restrictions on aid and urgently provide those suffering in Gaza with the food they so desperately need." On Friday, two Jordanian officials said they were considering airdrops and the United Arab Emirates sent a 7,000-ton aid ship to Gaza's shores. But it has not been determined who will distribute the food once it arrives. The GHF says it has distributed more than 91 million meals to Gazans, but there have been almost daily reports of civilians being injured or killed as they try to reach one of the group's four distribution hubs, all located in southern Gaza. In an interview with BBC News this week, Anthony Aguliar, a U.S. Army veteran and former contractor for GHF, detailed what he says he saw on the ground behind IDF lines during humanitarian aid distribution, calling the operation "amateur." "I witnessed the Israeli Defense Forces shooting at the crowds of Palestinians. I witnessed the Israeli Defense Forces firing a main gun tank round from the Merkava tank into a crowd of people," Aguilar said. "In my most frank assessment, I would say that they're criminal. In my entire career, I have never witnessed the level of brutality and use of indiscriminate and unnecessary force against a civilian population, an unarmed, starving population." In a statement to CBS News, the GHF called Aguilar's claims "materially false" and said he had been terminated from his position for "misconduct." The group has also been criticized by the U.N., which said GHF's tactics are neither adequate nor safe and make it more difficult for Gazans too weak to travel to military zones to secure food. Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner general for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, which provides support for Palestinian refugees, condemned the GHF in June, calling it "an abomination" and "a death trap costing more lives than it saves." As the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza deteriorated further this week, the GHF and U.N. groups continued to blame each other. In several public statements and social media posts last week, GHF said the responsibility for the mass starvation lies with the U.N. for allowing their full aid trucks inside Gaza to sit untouched and undistributed. "The U.N. cannot deliver this humanitarian aid to the people who need it most, and I'm not sure what the reason is," said GHF spokesperson Chapin Fay in a video posted to X, which showed him standing in front of U.N. aid trucks. "Whether it's looters, safety or whether they're playing politics, it just doesn't matter. The people of Gaza deserve better." The executive chairman of GHF, Reverend Johnnie Moore, in an interview with conservative commentator Ben Shapiro this week accused the U.N. of "playing politics with people's lives." "They're actually basically a willful participant on the Hamas side of the negotiating table in the ceasefire negotiations, by refusing to distribute aid and spreading this narrative around the world that the people of Gaza are going to starve if Hamas doesn't, in effect, get its demands at the negotiating table," Moore said. The U.N. World Food Programme says hundreds of aid trucks are ready to move, but the approval needed from the Israeli military to transport and distribute that aid is not coming quickly enough. In a statement Friday, they said just over half of their requests to collect cargo were approved and convoys were typically delayed, sometimes up to nearly two days, awaiting permission to travel within Gaza. Meanwhile, a UNICEF spokesperson confirmed to CBS News that their supplies of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food or RUTF — used for treating severely acutely malnourished children — is expected to run out in mid-August if more is not allowed into Gaza. "We are now facing a dire situation that we are running out of therapeutic supplies," said Salim Oweis, a spokesperson for UNICEF in Amman, Jordan. "That's really dangerous for children as they face hunger and malnutrition at the moment," he added. Oweis said UNICEF had only enough RUTF left to treat 3,000 children. In the first two weeks of July alone, UNICEF treated 5,000 children facing acute malnutrition in Gaza. The UNICEF spokesperson said the agency is unaware of whether GHF is distributing this type of specialized food and emphasized that it must be given to children after they are assessed by professional health workers to be suffering from acute malnutrition. GHF did not respond to CBS News when asked if the foundation also distributes specialized high-nutrient food for acutely malnourished children. UNICEF is the main procurer of RUTF in the world. Read the full letter sent by Senate Democrats to Secretary of State Marco Rubio here:Camilla Schick and Margaret Brennan contributed to this report.
CBS News
an hour ago
- CBS News
Transcript: French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," July 27, 2025
The following is the transcript of an interview with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on July 27, 2025. MARGARET BRENNAN: We turn now to French Foreign Minister, Jean‑Noël Barrot, who joins us this morning from Paris. Welcome to "Face The Nation." I want to begin on what is happening in Gaza with those horrific images that we are seeing of starvation overnight, Israel has begun air drops. We know Jordan, other states are looking to organize more aid. Are you exploring any further avenues to bring aid into Gaza? FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER JEAN-NOËL BARROT: What's happening in Gaza right now is appalling. Gaza is- is- is now in the brink of a full catastrophe, and we've been working out, over the months, to try and relief the sufferings of the Palestinian people. We actually have 52 tons of humanitarian help stuck in El-Arish in Egypt, a few kilometers away from Gaza. So we're exploring all options to seize the opportunity offered by the Israeli government by opening the skies of Gaza, but we call for immediate, unhindered, and massive access by all means of humanitarian help to those who need it most. MARGARET BRENNAN: Has Israel responded to your calls? : We have, with the European Union, started tough discussions with the Israeli government, who have made first commitments that have not been fulfilled yet. In the next few days, the European Commission will make clear what our expectations are. We expect the Israeli government to stop the operations of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation that has caused bloodbath in humanitarian help distribution lines in Gaza. We expect them to pay the 2 billion euros they owe to the Palestinian Authority and to lift the financial blockage that is now preventing the Palestinian Authority to implement its most basic missions. We also expect the Israeli government to bring to a stop its latest settlement projects, the E1 projects with 3400 housing units that might split the West Bank in two pieces and prevent the emergence of a political, a two state solution. But what we call for is, of course, the immediate cease-fire, the liberation of whole hostages of Hamas, that needs to be disarmed. And the entry, the massive entry, of humanitarian help in Gaza. MARGARET BRENNAN: You are headed to New York, to the United Nations, to help lead a summit to talk about a two state solution. Your president announced France will formally recognize the state of Palestine at the UN in September. More than 100 countries recognize Palestine, but France is the first western UN Security Council member to do so, and the United States opposes what you are saying. Secretary of State Rubio called it "reckless." He says it serves Hamas propaganda, sets back peace, and considers it "a slap in the face to the victims of October 7." In your government's view, why is he wrong? : So the reason why President Macron made this decision is that it was absolutely necessary to restart a political process, the two state solution process that was- that is today threatened, more threatened that it- it has ever been. And the conference that will take place in New York tomorrow and Tuesday is a very significant milestone, because by- by- by recognizing, or announcing the recognition of Palestine, France has been able, alongside Saudi Arabia, that has- that will be co chairing this conference with us, to collect very significant historic commitments by all stakeholders, including the Palestinian Authority president and Arab countries, in favor of the two state solution, and guarantee security guarantees for Israel. The two state solution is very simple, and I think everyone can understand what we mean by that. The only way to bring peace and stability back in this region is to have two state, the state of Israel and the state of Palestine, living side by side in peace and in security. This perspective is now threatened, and it's why the- the dynamic that we have initiated was so important, and this is why the conference that will take place in New York is such an important milestone. All these efforts are very, very complementary to the efforts that the U.S. have done in the region since the first term of President Trump. We share the short-term objective: immediate cease-fire, liberation of all hostages of Hamas that needs to be disarmed. We share the long term objective: peace and stability in the region. And what we're doing, by bringing the Palestinian Authority leader to recognize seventh of October as a terrorist attack, by calling the Hamas- the disarm- for the disarmament of Hamas and the liberation of hostages, by committing to deep reform of the Palestinian Authority, and by committing to elections within one year, by bringing the Arab countries for the first time to condemn Hamas and call for its disarmament, we are creating, or recreating, the conditions for this political solution that, again, is the only path forward, and we are paving the way. We're paving the way for the future Abraham Accords that the U.S. administration might lead. So I see our effort as very complementary to the U.S. administration's effort, rather than substitutes. MARGARET BRENNAN: Minister Barrot, the president of the United States dismissed what President Macron said, the U.S. Ambassador mocked it. Do you believe that your plans can succeed without U.S. support? : Again, our efforts are very complementary . We share the short term objective, cease-fire, liberation of all hostages of Hamas, and the long term objective, peace and stability in the region. In fact, we will welcome any further efforts led by the U.S. to implement the Abraham Accord logics. And what we're doing now with this very significant conference that will take place in New York will pave the way for such accords. But in the meantime, until the U.S. administration provides, through the Abraham Accord logics, a political horizon for this crisis, we need to act in order to facilitate the- or create an off ramp for the catastrophe ongoing in Gaza. Now the terms, we will welcome and support future Abraham Accords, but in the meantime, inaction is not an option. MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you briefly about an incident that has gained a lot of attention this past week involving some young French citizens who were removed from a flight from Spain. The airline claims they were kicked off for being disruptive. The Israeli government came out though and said the French students were removed because they're Jewish. Have you determined whether this was indeed an act of antisemitism? : I have called the CEO of this company, who has- to express our- our serious preoccupation. She has confirmed that an internal investigation is ongoing. My team has been reaching out to the ambassador of Spain in- in France, and we've made the same request. We'll keep following this situation as it unravels MARGARET BRENNAN: So too- too early to say, despite what the Israeli government is indicating. : I cannot comment on that at this point. We've taken action as- as soon as we got, you know, as we got notice of what was happening, we offered support on location through our embassy to this group. We then reached out to the- the airline company, to the Spanish authorities, and we're now following the results of these investigations. MARGARET BRENNAN: France has been very active diplomatically on a number of fronts. It was just five weeks ago when the United States and Israel bombed Iran. Since that time, France has talked to the Iranian government, along with other European powers, about what remains of Iran's nuclear program. How concerned are you that after these bombings, Iran may now covertly attempt to make a weapon, and the world won't know? : This is still a risk that we are facing, and alongside Germany and the UK, we have been very clear, Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and we've been, over the past few months, reaching out to the Iranian authority in close coordination with U.S. authorities in order to express what our expectations are. Ten years ago, we reached a deal on the nuclear program that allowed for a significant rollback of Iranian nuclear capacity. Of course, things has changed. Still then, and since then, Iran has violated all commitments it had taken at the time of signing this agreement. We now want a more comprehensive agreement that would encompass both the nuclear dimension of Iranian destabilization activities, but also it's the ballistic component, as well as the regional destabilization activities that Iran has been conducting, unless we- unless a new and robust and durable and verifiable agreement is reached by the end of the summer, France, Germany and the UK will have no other choice but to reapply the global embargoes that were lifted 10 years ago when the nuclear agreement with Iran was signed, embargoes on weapons, on nuclear equipment, and on banking. MARGARET BRENNAN: So France is ready to snap back sanctions on Iran as soon as August. Are you asking Iran to speak directly to the United States in order to avoid that fate? : We've been speaking with Special Envoy Witkoff, Secretary Rubio, on a weekly basis on this topic that is highly important for the U.S., as for Europeans. We- we have supported U.S.-led efforts to enter into discussions with Iran. We have pressed Iran, after the 12 day war, to go back to a discussion with the U.S., and we'll keep pressing them to do so, because indeed, if there is no solid agreement that can be found by the end of August, we will have no other option but to snap back, meaning to reapply those global embargoes, and we are ready to do that. MARGARET BRENNAN: Minister Barrot, thank you very much for your time this morning.
CNN
2 hours ago
- CNN
Sen. Mark Kelly on Democratic challenges: ‘we certainly do have a problem'
Democratic Senator Mark Kelly discusses what he has been hearing from voters at townhalls about Democratic favorability problems and whether the US bears any blame for the starvation crisis in Gaza.
