The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees says a convoy of United Nations vehicles and staff detained by Israel in northern Gaza on Monday has been released and are back at a UN facility.
UNRWA chief Phillip Lazzarini says the convoy was carrying Gazans and foreign staff who were en route to Gaza City and northern Gaza to roll out a polio vaccination campaign when they were detained.
“The convoy was stopped at gun point just after the Wadi Gaza checkpoint with threats to detain UN staff. Heavy damage was caused by bulldozers to the UN armoured vehicles,” Lazzarini says on X. “All staff & convoy are now released & back safely in the UN base.”
The Israeli military said earlier it detained the convoy after receiving intelligence indicating that “Palestinian suspects” had snuck aboard the convoy. It had disputed claims that the convoy was carrying polio vaccines.
Lazarini says he is unsure if the vaccination campaign will resume in northern Gaza on Tuesday.
This significant incident is the latest in a series of violations against UN staff including shootings at convoys & arrests by the Israeli Armed Forces at checkpoints despite prior notification,” Lazzarini complains.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Support our work
Support our work
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, September 10, 2024
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
