The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is warning that aid workers in the Gaza Strip continue to face daily threats to their safety and ongoing obstruction of their efforts to reach Palestinians in need of life-saving assistance. The warning comes after a UN convoy was stopped and surrounded by Israeli forces. Soldiers pointed their weapons directly at UN personnel in the convoy, live shots were fired, and vehicles were damaged.
On Monday, a team of twelve UN staff members, whose movements were fully coordinated with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and whose details were shared with them in advance, were stopped on their way to northern Gaza to support the third phase of the Gaza Strip-wide polio vaccination campaign.
“When the team was stopped at Al Rashid Checkpoint, they were informed that Israeli forces wanted to hold two UN staff members in the convoy for questioning. The situation escalated very quickly, with soldiers pointing their weapons directly towards our personnel in the convoy,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres' spokesman told reporters on Tuesday.
The UN vehicles were surrounded by Israeli forces and shots were fired.
“The convoy was then approached by IDF tanks and a bulldozer, which proceeded to ram the UN vehicles from the back and front, compacting the convoy with UN staff inside,” spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said.
“One bulldozer dropped debris on the first vehicle, while Israeli soldiers threatened staff, making it impossible for them to safely exit their vehicles.”
The convoy remained at gunpoint as senior UN officials engaged with Israeli authorities to de-escalate the situation. The two staff members were questioned and then released. After seven and a half hours at the checkpoint, the convoy returned to base, unable to complete its humanitarian mission, but all personnel returned.
According to OCHA, the number of humanitarian missions and movements within Gaza denied access by Israeli authorities nearly doubled in August compared to the previous month.
Monday's incident is the latest example of the unacceptable dangers and obstacles faced by humanitarian workers in Gaza. Last month, a World Food Program (WFP) convoy was directly fired upon by the IDF.
At least 218 UN workers have been killed in Israeli attacks on the enclave since the war broke out in October.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Muhannad Hadi, condemned the latest threat to UN staff.
“This incident highlights the ongoing dangers and obstacles humanitarian personnel face in Gaza. Despite daily coordination of humanitarian movements with the Israeli Defense Forces, our staff and assets were not provided with sufficient protection, hindering our work,” Hadi said, noting that such protection is mandatory under international humanitarian law.
UN Secretary-General Guterres also strongly condemned the incident on Tuesday.
“The Secretary-General once again recalls that international humanitarian law, including the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precautions in attack, must be complied with at all times by all parties to the conflict,” Dujarric said in a separate statement.
Guterres also called for the protection of civilians, including aid workers, and the facilitation of humanitarian access. Through his spokesperson, the Secretary-General reiterated his calls for an immediate agreement on a ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages.
The statement also strongly condemned Tuesday's Israeli airstrikes in a densely populated so-called "humanitarian zone" in Khan Younis and the killing of civilians, including women and children.
Israeli airstrikes on al-Mawasi in the Gaza Strip killed at least 19 people and injured another 60, according to media reports.
"The use of heavy weapons in densely populated areas is unconscionable," the Secretary-General's statement said.
“Displaced Palestinians had moved to this area in Khan Younis in search for shelter and safety after being repeatedly instructed to do so by the Israeli authorities - but there is no safe place in Gaza.”
Following the deadly attack on the Al Mawasi camp, OCHA led an assessment team to the area on Tuesday to identify the most urgent needs of the population and mobilize humanitarian efforts.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and other relief agencies participated in the mission, which distributed shelter materials and non-food items, rehabilitated water infrastructure and provided protection assistance.
Meanwhile, the polio immunization campaign continues in northern Gaza. This third phase of the campaign is expected to last until Thursday. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), preliminary data indicates that more than 81,600 children have been vaccinated in the north as of Tuesday.
In all, almost 528,000 children have now been reached in Gaza. More than 230 teams are on the ground, trying to immunize all children under the age of 10.
OCHA warned today that Gaza's health system remains in dire condition, with aid agencies reporting that half of all essential medicines are unavailable in Gaza, and life-saving drugs such as insulin are running out.
At the same time, Israeli aerial and ground bombardments continue to be reported throughout the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement and destruction of civilian infrastructure. According to Gaza health officials, more than 41,000 people have been killed and more than 94,900 wounded in Israeli attacks on the enclave since the war broke out in October.
But with thousands of bodies still unaccounted for, the actual death toll is likely to be much higher. More than 10,000 others are feared buried under the rubble in Gaza and are presumed dead. Among the confirmed dead are at least 296 aid workers, 218 UN staff, 885 health workers and 172 journalists.
According to the UN, some 1.9 million people - or 90 percent of the population - are internally displaced throughout Gaza, including people who have been repeatedly displaced - some as many as 10 or 20 times in recent months.
More than eleven months into the Gaza war, civilians are crammed into an ever-shrinking space without adequate access to water, food, sanitation or health care. More than 88 percent of the Gaza Strip has been placed under evacuation orders or declared a "no-go zone" by Israeli security forces.
Almost the entire population is now concentrated in about 10 percent of this tiny strip of land.
Further information
Full text: Humanitarian Coordinator condemns UN convoy incident in Gaza, Statement by the Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Muhannad Hadi, on the security incident affecting a UN convoy at Al Rashid Checkpoint in Gaza, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, statement, released September 10, 2024
https://www.unocha.org/news/humanitarian-coordinator-condemns-un-convoy-incident-gaza
Full text: Secretary-General Condemns Deadly Israeli Air Strikes in Khan Younis, Gaza, statement, UN Secretary-General, released September 10, 2024
https://press.un.org/en/2024/sgsm22360.doc.htm