United Nations, May 6.— The continued denials of access to aid and humanitarian work in Gaza today warn of the need for accountability for what the UN considers a violation of international law.
After hindering a quarter of humanitarian missions to the north of the enclave in April, Israeli authorities denied entry for the second time last week to the commissioner general of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (Unrwa), Philippe Lazzarini.
Added to this are ten other incidents recorded by UNRWA in recent days, which involved shooting at convoys, arrests of UN staff, including harassment, stripping, threats with weapons and long delays at checkpoints.
According to the commissioner general, these actions forced convoys to move during darkness or abort.
These are frequent incidents, while the Agency remains immersed in a race against time to avoid famine in Gaza.
In a recent statement, UNRWA called for an independent investigation and accountability for the blatant disregard for humanitarian workers, operations and facilities.
In Lazzarini’s own opinion, the current circumstances provoke fears among humanitarians while setting a dangerous precedent that would compromise humanitarian work around the world.
“Since the beginning of the war, the United Nations, including UNRWA and other humanitarian personnel, facilities and operations, have been blatantly ignored,” the representative said in a message posted on the social network X, formerly Twitter.
The denial of humanitarian access, he recalled, is a violation of humanitarian law.
Last week, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) denounced the continued access limitations faced by United Nations workers on the ground to bring vital supplies.
Among others, the agency cited denials of planned missions or prolonged delays at military checkpoints set up by Israel on roads between northern and southern Gaza.
These affected a quarter of the operations in April while 10 percent were denied, he confirmed.
“The UN and its humanitarian partners continue our efforts to expand aid operations wherever possible,” said the spokesperson for the Secretary-General (António Guterres), Stéphane Dujarric.
During the current round of hostilities, UNRWA reached hundreds of thousands of Gazan homes with essential aid despite violence, Israeli controls and lack of funding.
However, this assistance is far from being enough to alleviate the humanitarian crisis that the Palestinian territory has suffered since October 7.
