UN chief rejects new Israeli proposal to control flow of aid into Gaza
Guterres says plan risks ‘callously limiting aid down to the last calorie,’ Israel as ‘occupying power’ must ensure Gazans get food and medical supplies
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday rejected a new Israeli proposal to control aid deliveries in Gaza, saying it risks “further controlling and callously limiting aid down to the last calorie and grain of flour.”
“Let me be clear: We will not participate in any arrangement that does not fully respect the humanitarian principles: humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality,” said Guterres, whom Jerusalem has accused of anti-Israel bias.
Israel halted the delivery of aid on March 2, hours after the end of the Gaza ceasefire and release hostage deal’s 42-day first phase. Israel had refusal to negotiate the second phase of the deal, which would have required the IDF to withdraw from the Strip. On March 18, Israel resumed hostilities in Gaza with a series of massive airstrikes.
Israel has accused Hamas of hoarding supplies and vowed to keep blocking aid to Gaza until the terror group releases the 59 remaining hostages. However, an Israeli official on Monday confirmed to The Times of Israel that the IDF plans to renew the aid flow, following reported concern that failing to do so would risk international law violations and future legal problems for commanders who take part in the military operation.
COGAT, the IDF agency that coordinates aid, met last week with UN agencies and international aid groups and said it proposed “a structured monitoring and aid entry mechanism” for Gaza.
“The mechanism is designed to support aid organizations, enhance oversight and accountability, and ensure that assistance reaches the civilian population in need, rather than being diverted and stolen by Hamas,” COGAT posted on X on Sunday.
In remarks to journalists on Tuesday, Guterres called for the immediate and unconditional release of all the hostages, a permanent ceasefire and full humanitarian access in Gaza.
“Gaza is a killing field – and civilians are in an endless death loop,” said Guterres. “With crossing points into Gaza shut and aid blockaded, security is in shambles, and our capacity to deliver has been strangled,” he said.
Pointing to the Geneva Conventions governing treatment of people in war, Guterres said Israel, as an “occupying power,” must ensure the provision of food and medical supplies to the population.
That means Israel should facilitate relief programs and ensure food, medical care, hygiene, and public-health standards in Gaza, he said, adding that “none of that is happening today.”
Israel says it does not exercise effective control over Gaza and, therefore, is not an occupying power. However, Defense Minister Israel Katz said last week that Israel’s renewed offensive in Gaza seeks to take over “extensive territory.”
Guterres, on Tuesday, also raised the alarm about the situation in the West Bank, where Israel’s large-scale counterterrorism operations have displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians.
“The current path is a dead end — totally intolerable in the eyes of international law and history,” he said. “And the risk of the occupied West Bank transforming into another Gaza makes it even worse.”
Throughout the war in Gaza, Israel has clashed with Guterres, declaring him persona non grata and accusing him of justifying the Hamas onslaught that sparked the war.
Guterres has pushed back, saying in a June press conference that he had publicly condemned the Hamas onslaught over 100 times. The UN chief has also met with families of hostages held in Gaza, including at the start of the last UN General Assembly in September.
The onslaught of October 7, 2023, saw thousands of Hamas-led terrorists storm southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages. Israel halted the flow of aid into the Strip following the onslaught and gradually renewed the aid flow amid international pressure.
Throughout the war, Israel has accused Hamas of infiltrating aid groups, including UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, and embedding itself in civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and aid distribution centers.
Before the war, Israel had overseen the daily entry of hundreds of trucks of humanitarian aid into the blockaded Strip, which Israel withdrew from in 2005.
Jacob Magid contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.