From the Liveblog of
Friday, February 16, 2024
US envoy: IDF killed Palestinian cops escorting Gaza aid convoy, leading them to refuse missions
The top US diplomat involved in humanitarian assistance for Gaza says Israeli forces earlier this month killed Palestinian police protecting a UN aid convoy in the enclave’s embattled southern city of Rafah.
As a result, Palestinian police have refused to protect convoys, hampering aid deliveries inside Gaza because of threats from criminal gangs, says David Satterfield, Washington’s special regional envoy for humanitarian issues.
“With the departure of police escorts, it has been virtually impossible for the UN or anyone else, Jordan, the UAE, or any other implementer to safely move assistance in Gaza because of criminal elements,” Satterfield tells an event hosted by the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Satterfield says the police escorts include Hamas members but also officers with no direct affiliation to the terror group.
Israel’s military did not immediately provide comment on his remarks.
Satterfield is asked if there was any truth to a report that Israeli troops killed “Hamas operatives” protecting a UN aid convoy in Rafah earlier this month.
“The IDF (Israeli Defense Force) 10 days, two weeks ago, did indeed strike at seven, eight, or nine police officials, including a commander whose units had been involved in providing escorts,” he replies.
Such escorts were needed because of attacks on aid convoys first by “desperate” Palestinians and “then by criminal elements,” Satterfield says.
The police “certainly include Hamas elements. They also include individuals who don’t have a direct affiliation with Hamas who are there as part of the Palestinian Authority’s remnant presence and security,” he says, referring to the Western-backed body that exercises limited governance in the occupied West Bank.
On Feb. 10, Hamas and Gaza medics said that two Israeli airstrikes had killed five members of Rafah’s Hamas-run police force, including a senior officer. The same day, Israel’s military said it had struck and killed three Hamas gunmen in Rafah, including two senior operatives in the area.
It is not clear if Satterfield was referring to the Feb. 10 incident. Hamas has not said if it has stopped police escorts of aid convoys.
Satterfield says the US is working with the Israeli government and military to determine “what solutions can be found because everyone wants the assistance to continue.”
In addition to the threat posed by criminals, aid distribution is hampered by “the rising value of humanitarian assistance” leaking into the black market, Satterfield says.
