UN says it won’t take part in US-backed Gaza aid plan as it isn’t impartial or neutral

The United Nations says it will not take part in a US-backed humanitarian operation in Gaza because it is not impartial, neutral or independent.

“This particular distribution plan does not accord with our basic principles, including those of impartiality, neutrality, independence, and we will not be participating in this,” deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq tells reporters.

The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation will start work in Gaza by the end of May under a heavily criticized aid plan that the UN aid chief Tom Fletcher has described as a “fig leaf for further violence and displacement” of Palestinians in Gaza.

GHF is an organization established earlier this year in close coordination with Israel to oversee the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza in a manner that does not allow its diversion by Hamas amid mounting mistrust between Jerusalem and UN-backed aid groups who have been operating in the Strip to date.

While the foundation is backed by the Trump administration, its rollout has been rocky, with many international organizations refusing to cooperate due to the strict conditions Israel is placing on its operations.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that the UN “has a solid and principled operational plan to deliver humanitarian aid and life-saving services at scale and immediately across the Gaza Strip.”

Jacob Magid contributed to this report.