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.
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Fox News' Mark Levin shrugs off starvation in Gaza because malnourished Palestinian baby has pre-existing health issues
Fox News host Mark Levin suggested that the widespread famine gripping Gaza is being grossly exaggerated, specifically referencing a New York Times story about a malnourished Palestinian child with pre-existing health conditions to make his point. Levin, a pro-Israel hawk and member of Donald Trump's Homeland Security Advisory Council, also railed against international leaders accusing Israel of conducting a campaign of starvation in Gaza, complaining that the Israelis shouldn't be 'told you need to feed the enemy while you defeat the enemy' amid a defensive war. In recent weeks, there has been a sea change both domestically and internationally when it comes to Israel's war against Gaza. With more and more reports of Palestinian children dying of malnutrition as Israel blocks most food aid from entering the war-torn territory, the Israelis have faced mounting pressure to break the Gaza blockade and agree to a lasting ceasefire. Earlier this week, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that his country would recognize a Palestinian state in September unless Israel ends the war and 'takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza.' Starmer's declaration – which came amid criticism from within his own party to take a tougher line on Israel – followed French President Emmanuel Macron's similar proclamation days earlier. Starmer's decision sparked fury from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who claimed it 'rewards Hamas's monstrous terrorism and punishes its victims' while asserting that the 'jihadist state on Israel's border today will threaten Britain tomorrow.' At the same time, Netanyahu has extraordinarily denied that Gaza is currently suffering through famine, calling it a 'bold faced lie' that Israel is trying to starve the territory. 'There is no policy of starvation in Gaza and there is no starvation in Gaza,' he said this week, adding that Israel had 'enabled the amount (of aid) required by international law to come in' and that Hamas was stealing the aid. While Trump has appeared to break from Netanyahu and acknowledged 'real starvation' in Gaza, Levin appears willing to back the Israeli prime minister's position that the famine is largely a fiction that's been peddled by Hamas propaganda. During a Wednesday appearance on America's Newsroom, Levin groused about Starmer's declaration, saying that he's 'sick and tired of these Western Europeans lecturing the state of Israel on how to fight a war.' He also justified Israel's actions in Gaza by referencing the bombing of Dresden, Germany, in World War II, as well as the dropping of nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 'If you listen to that man and think about what he is asking Israel to do, it's an impossibility. Have peace in Gaza without Hamas and make sure the people are fed. Well, isn't that lovely?!' Levin griped. 'Exactly what have the Brits done to accomplish that? What have the French done to accomplish that? Everything they are saying and everything they are doing is giving aid and comfort to Hamas, just like they gave aid and comfort to Iran when President Trump decided to deal with Iran.' At that point, he took issue with the New York Times over its recent story about Gazans dying of starvation after 21 months of conflict with Israel, which featured interviews with Palestinians who are suffering through the prolonged famine. 'The Gaza Ministry of Health has reported more than 40 hunger-related deaths this month, including 16 children, and 111 since the beginning of the war, 81 of them children. The data could not be independently verified,' the Times reported. The paper also included a photograph of Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, an 18-month-old child who was diagnosed with severe malnutrition, according to his mother. The Times would later add an update from the child's doctor, who pointed out that he also had pre-existing medical conditions. 'Mohammed, according to his doctor, had pre-existing health problems affecting his brain and his muscle development,' according to the Times. 'But his health deteriorated rapidly in recent months as it became increasingly difficult to find food and medical care, and the medical clinic that treated him said he suffers from severe malnutrition.' Levin, meanwhile, suggested that this updated information about a malnourished child proved that the reports of starvation in Gaza were inflated and overstated. 'You've got the New York Times that does a photo of this poor Palestinian kid who is all skin and bones, and they're basically assigning the responsibility on the starvation in Palestine,' he exclaimed. 'Turns out he has cystic fibrosis, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the Israelis!' The Fox News star continued: 'This isn't the first time that Hamas has done this and that the European newspapers, the New York Times, and the Washington Post run it.' Levin went on to blast the Washington Post for noting in a recent article that while the Gaza Health Ministry has estimated roughly 60,000 Palestinians have died since the war began, the total is likely an undercount. 'They keep using these Hamas numbers. Then they list thousands of children who have been killed. Who is killing them?!' Levin fumed. 'Hamas can surrender tomorrow. Give the Israelis their people back. The bodies of the people they have killed back. It will be over in two seconds! But they don't do it. Hamas needs this!' After once again claiming that the numbers of Palestinian casualties are likely inflated, Levin grumbled over the growing international calls for more humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza to feed the starving citizens in the territory. 'This is the only country in the history of modern warfare that has fed the citizens of its enemy in a time of war,' he said, adding: 'They're fighting a defensive war and they're being told enough is enough, you need to feed the enemy while you defeat the enemy!'Meanwhile, at the end of Levin's lengthy rant about Gaza, Fox News anchor Dana Perino appeared to side with her colleague, at least when it came to the New York Times' story. 'On that New York Times correction, just to point out to everybody the New York Times has tons of followers on its regular [X] account,' she concluded. 'When they do a correction, they do it through their PR account, which has only 40,000 views. So, I know you helped amplify that last night.'
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Gaza's Hunger Is a Moral Crisis
The hunger in Gaza is an urgent moral crisis. Its two million people lack adequate food, and at least 16 children under 5 have died of hunger-related causes in the past couple of weeks. Israel's often reckless administration of its war and occupation have helped create this emergency, and it has a unique power to alleviate it. It must do so. How the situation has come to this is a matter of intense dispute, of course. It is certainly true that Hamas's leaders could end the crisis by releasing the hostages they continue to hold and surrendering in a war they started and are losing. Yet the cease-fire talks between Hamas and Israel remain stalled, with each side insisting on conditions that remain unacceptable to the other. The best solution, for Palestinians and Israelis alike, includes a return of the hostages, an end to the war and a new Gaza government. While that outcome remains out of reach, Gazans need to eat. Israel bears the greatest responsibility for the lack of food because its military controls so much of Gaza, including its borders. The excuses offered by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — that the aid organizations are incompetent and Hamas diverts the aid — are unpersuasive. Even some Israeli military officials have questioned this rationale. The core problem instead stems from a push by far-right members of Mr. Netanyahu's government to cut off aid from international groups. Israel did so early this year. In their place, Israel and the United States established the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and said it would handle the job. Mr. Netanyahu and his ministers claimed the switch was necessary because Hamas had corrupted the previous system by hoarding supplies for its fighters and selling aid at a profit, but that earlier system was clearly more effective than the new one. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has operated only four distribution centers for Gaza's entire population, compared with more than 400 that the United Nations and other aid groups previously operated. Hundreds of Gazans have died during frantic melees at the four distribution sites, sometimes killed by gunfire from Israeli troops. The images of emaciated children and people desperately reaching out with empty bowls make clear that the new system has failed. Even President Trump, normally a close ally of Mr. Netanyahu, has acknowledged as much. On Monday the president said that there was 'real starvation' in Gaza and that 'we have to get the kids fed.' If Mr. Netanyahu considered the previous aid system to present unacceptable security risks, he must create an alternative that allows Gazans to eat. And if he wants to prevent stolen aid from becoming a major source of Hamas revenue, he should allow food to be plentiful in Gaza and make it less of a scarce resource. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Washington Post
an hour ago
- Washington Post
Malta says it will recognize the state of Palestine, joining France and possibly Britain
UNITED NATIONS — Malta told a high-level U.N. meeting Wednesday that it will formally recognize the state of Palestine in September, joining France and the United Kingdom in stepping up pressure to end the nearly 80-year Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Christopher Cutajar, the permanent secretary at Malta's Foreign Ministry, made the announcement at the U.N. General Assembly's meeting on a two-state solution to the conflict which has been extended to a third day because of the high number of countries wanting to speak.
