Analysis: Aid blame game highlights fractious relationship between Israel and the U.N.
TEL AVIV — Israel and the United Nations are blaming each other for the deteriorating humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, underscoring the long-strained relationship between the Middle Eastern country and the global club of nations.
The World Health Organization, a U.N. agency, said today that it has been unable to deliver badly needed medical supplies to northern Gaza for 12 days, calling it “nearly impossible” amid “heavy bombardment, movement restrictions and interrupted communications” imposed by Israel’s military.
The WHO said a planned mission to a key hospital and drugstore had been aborted for the fourth time because Israel did not guarantee the convoy’s safety.
It comes after the U.N. warned on X last week that Gazans who now face “catastrophic and life-threatening food insecurity,” because of the obstacles preventing food getting into the enclave.
In active conflict zones, humanitarian groups and U.N. aid agencies generally rely on assurances from militaries and combatants that they won’t strike aid vehicles traveling on designated routes at specific times, a process known as “deconfliction.”
Yet Israeli officials have repeatedly pointed the finger toward the U.N. for bottlenecks in distributing aid within Gaza, arguing that Israel is not limiting the number of trucks that, following close inspection, can bring approved aid into the coastal strip.
Late last month, Israeli President Isaac Herzog blamed “a decisive failure” by the U.N. during a meeting with French President Gérard Larcher. “It is possible to provide three times the amount of humanitarian aid to Gaza if the U.N., instead of complaining all day, would do its job,” Herzog said.
Israel and the U.N. have had a fractious relationship for decades with Israeli leaders frequently accusing the international body of antisemitism and of disproportionately targeting Israel with accusations of human rights violations.
Between 2015 and 2022, the U.N. General Assembly adopted 140 resolutions about Israel and only 68 about all other countries combined, according to a tally by UN Watch, a Geneva-based watchdog that says it tracks “anti-Israel prejudice at the U.N.”
Since the Israel-Hamas war started Oct. 7, Israel’s government has repeatedly faulted the U.N. and its Security Council for failing to sufficiently condemn Hamas for the atrocities of the attack, alleging hypocrisy.
Following U.S. moves to block several U.N. Security Council resolutions, last month the council adopted a resolution calling for more aid to Gaza without demanding an immediate Israeli cease-fire. The U.S. abstained rather than use its veto, allowing the resolution to pass.
WHO cancels mission to northern Gaza because of lack of safety guarantees
The World Health Organization said it had canceled a planned mission to northern Gaza for the fourth time since Dec. 26, because of the lack of safety guarantees.
“The mission planned to move urgently needed medical supplies to sustain the operations of five hospitals in the north, including Al-Awda,” WHO’s office in the occupied Palestinian territory said in a post on X yesterday.
Heavy bombardment, movement restrictions and communications blackouts have made it almost impossible to deliver critical medical aid to the northern part of the strip, the agency added.
Injured people are only able to reach doctors days or weeks after they’ve been hurt, the agency said, with the lack of doctors and specialists forcing doctors to perform above-knee, rather than below-knee, amputations.
Gaza conflict looms large in Pope Francis' 'state of the world' speech
Pope Francis, speaking about the Middle East conflict in his yearly address to diplomats, today called for a “cease-fire on every front, including Lebanon”.
In the long address, sometimes called his “state of the world” speech, he also condemned the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas as an “atrocious” act of “terrorism and extremism”, and renewed his call for the immediate liberation of those still being held hostage in Gaza.
Hezbollah commander killed in southern Lebanon
A Hezbollah commander was killed in southern Lebanon today, the Iran-backed militant group said in a statement.
Wissam Hassan Tawil was killed in the town of Khirbet Selm, the statement said. It did provide any further details about his death.
His death comes days after senior Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri was reportedly killed by a drone strike in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
Hamas is using North Korean weapons, South Korean spy agency says
Hamas militants are using North Korean-made weapons to attack Israeli forces in Gaza, South Korea’s main spy agency told the country's Yonhap news agency today.
The National Intelligence Service also provided a picture to Yonhap of a rocket grenade launcher it said had been manufactured in the North.
“The fuse with the Korean characters is located in the mid-section of the North Korean-made F-7 rocket,” Yonhap quoted the agency as saying. The agency added that it was collecting detailed evidence of North Korea supplying to Hamas, it said.
NBC News has not independently reviewed the evidence supplied to Yonhap.
More than 10 kids are losing a leg every day in Gaza, Save the Children warns
More than 10 children are losing a leg every day in the Gaza Strip, Save the Children said in a statement yesterday, citing United Nations statistics.
“Small children caught up in explosions are particularly vulnerable to major, life changing injuries. They have weaker necks and torsos, so less force is needed to cause a brain injury,” said Jason Lee, the country director for the occupied Palestinian territory.
“Their skulls are still not fully formed, and their undeveloped muscles offer less protection, so a blast is more likely to tear apart organs in their abdomen, even when there’s no visible damage,” Lee added.
The charity's statement also referenced remarks from James Elder, a spokesperson for UNICEF, who after returning from Gaza last month said that around 1,000 children had lost one or both of their legs since Hamas launched multipronged attacks on Israel on Oct. 7.
Blinken meets with UAE leader, urges avoiding spread of conflict
ABU DHABI — Blinken today met with the United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi.
Blinken emphasized the need for preventing the spread of the conflict, according to the readout, reiterating U.S. commitments to "Israel's security" and "the establishment of an independent Palestinian state," the State Department said in a readout of the meeting.
Blinken is now headed to Saudi Arabia, where he is expected to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman before traveling to Israel.
Australia bans Nazi salute and other terror group symbols
As of today, Australia has outlawed the Nazi salute and the public display or sale of symbols associated with Nazis and terror groups.
The law was introduced in June but gained new urgency amid a surge in antisemitism and Islamophobia since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, passing Australia’s Parliament last month. Violations can bring up to a year in prison.
“This is the first legislation of this kind and will ensure no one in Australia will be allowed to glorify or profit from acts and symbols that celebrate the Nazis and their evil ideology,” Mark Dreyfus, Australia’s attorney-general, said in a statement.
WHO warns of ‘sickening scenes’ at key Gaza hospital
The WHO has warned that a key hospital in central Gaza “must remain functional” after staff reported "sickening scenes" amid reports of patients and workers fleeing fighting in the area.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that his staff have seen “sickening scenes of people of all ages being treated on blood-streaked floors and in chaotic corridors” at Al-Aqsa Hospital, the main hospital still serving central Gaza.
In his X post, he further added that it is unbelievable that an essential need like that of health care was not assured.
IDF says it killed 10 fighters in Khan Younis
Israeli forces have killed at least 10 fighters in the main southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, the IDF said today in a statement, as it struck areas used to launch rockets.
Overnight, the IDF struck a total of 30 targets in the city, including underground targets, it said, as its aerial forces assisted the IDF's ground operations.
The IDF said it also located a tunnel shaft and weaponry in an agricultural area in the central Gaza Strip. In al-Maghazi, an Israeli fighter jet struck a weapons storage facility, it added.