Israel hails aid truck deliveries in Gaza, U.N. calls it a 'trickle'
July 24 (UPI) -- Israel said Thursday that the United Nations and other international aid agencies had restarted distribution of some humanitarian assistance to Palestinians after collecting more than 100 trucks of aid from its facilities just inside the border with Gaza.
The announcement on X by COGAT, the Israeli government agency tasked with implementing civilian policy in Gaza and the West Bank, came amid mounting international pressure over the spread of mass starvation in the besieged Palestinian enclave.
"Yesterday, around 70 food trucks were unloaded at aid crossings, and over 150 were collected by the United Nations and international organizations from the Gazan side, but over 800 still await pickup. We continue to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza," said the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories department.
The United Nations' office for humanitarian affairs said the volume of aid involved was "a trickle compared with the immense needs," warning that the chief obstacles to "safe and unimpeded" delivery of aid remained unchanged.
"Humanitarian workers face serious security risks, crossings remain unreliable, and critical supplies are routinely delayed or blocked. The U.N. stands ready to seize the opportunity of a cease-fire to significantly scale up humanitarian operations across Gaza, as it did during previous pauses. These plans are finalized," OCHA said in a news release.
"But to make a real difference, Israel must enable safe and unimpeded aid delivery, allow the entry of critical equipment and fuel, open all crossings, and restore movement along key supply routes. Humanitarian staff must be able to operate safely, people must be allowed to move freely, and supplies -- including from the private sector -- must reach all parts of Gaza."
Israel insisted it was facilitating the entry of aid via the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation as well as the aid trucks and, accusing OCHA of abandoning "neutrality," announced that hundreds of OCHA employees would be subject to security vetting.
Senior staff, including Jonathan Whitthall, head of office for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, would also not get their visas renewed and would have to leave the country next week.
Announcing the move, Israel's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Danny Danon, told a session of the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday that there was a clear link between OCHA, which provides statistics and information on the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the West Bank from its office in Jerusalem, and Hamas.
"OCHA has long ceased to be a humanitarian body. It is a Hamas propaganda arm that operates from within U.N. institutions and uses false data and inflammatory discourse to harm Israel.
"Israel will take steps to ensure that what has been happening with OCHA will not continue. At some point enough is enough," said Danon.
The step marked a sharp deterioration in relations between OCHA and the administration of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that turned sour after OCHA head Tom Fletcher claimed May 20 that 14,000 babies in Gaza would starve to death within 48 hours, a charge Israel condemned as a "blood libel."
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