Israel warned the United Nations that it would not work with those of its officials and staff members who support Hamas propaganda against the Jewish state.“Israel will stop working with those who cooperate with the Hamas terrorist regime’s propaganda machine,” government spokesman Eylon Levy told reporters on Tuesday.He spoke hours before the UN announced it had appointed former Dutch finance and deputy prime minister Sigrid Kaag to the newly created position of Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza to help monitor and oversee aid to the enclave.
“In this role, she will facilitate, coordinate, monitor, and verify humanitarian relief consignments to Gaza,” the UN said in a statement to the media. “She will also establish a United Nations mechanism to accelerate humanitarian relief consignments to Gaza through States which are not party to the conflict.”She enters her position at a time of increased tensions between the UN and Israel.Levy, in talking to reporters, had harsh words for what he termed the “deeply problematic involvement of the UN in this conflict.”
UN employees complicit partners to Hamas
“In failing to condemn Hamas for hijacking aid, and in failing to condemn it for waging war out of hospitals, they have been complicit partners in Hamas’s human shield strategy“They have let the world down, we are demanding global accountability,” Levy said.Moving forward, he added, “Visa requests by UN employees will no longer be granted automatically and will instead be considered on a case-by-case basis.”The UN said in response: “Visas for UN officials to Israel have always been issued on a case-by-case individual basis, just like any other member state. We will continue to work with Israel on this issue.”Tension between Israel and the UN have only increased since the start of the war on October 7, particularly around the issue of aid delivery to Gaza, made more complicated by the conflict.Israel initially closed its crossing once the war started, forcing the entry of goods into the enclave through Egypt’s crossing at Rafah, which is not designed to handle such traffic
This month, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories temporarily reopened the Kerem Shalom crossing to help increase the flow of supplies. But this is only part of the challenge.Israel’s military campaign to oust Hamas from the enclave has caused the collapse of Gaza’s communications, transportation, and distribution systems. The UN has not been able to overcome the logical difficulties created by the situation.Kaag, who stepped down from those two posts in July, had previously served as the country’s foreign minister.Her new post was created last week by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2720, which had called to expedite humanitarian aid into Gaza and set out several procedures for that to occur.Kaag has also held several positions at the UN, including Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Assistant Secretary-General with the UN Development Program, the UN International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), and the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA) for Palestinian refugees since 1948.The UN said that Kaag “brings a wealth of experience in political, humanitarian, and development affairs, as well as in diplomacy.”