Defense officials reveal allegations of UN cessation, hindering aid delivery
Defense officials claim that the UN's actions seem to lack the ability to move food to northern Gaza, dragging the aid truck on Kerem Shalom's traversal.
Defense officials accused the United Nations of undermining efforts to provide food to civilians in Gaza on Friday, which exacerbated existing tensions between international agencies and Israel.
Officials claim that the UN's actions seem to lack the ability to move food to northern Gaza, thus stopping hundreds of aid trucks at Kerem Shalom Crossing Point.
Earlier this week, the Coordination of Government Activities on Territory (COGAT) said the United Nations is reducing cooperation with Israel’s food program, complicating the allocation of aid and effectively playing a role.
On Monday, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher said there were 10,000 aid trucks on the Gaza border that were cleared and ready to go.
“We have 10,000 trucks on the border now, cleared [and] Be ready to go and we will do everything we can to get them in and save lives.
Tom Fletcher, the United Nations Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief (OCHA), attended a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland (photo source: Reuters/Denis Balibusse).
Fletcher nodded as she unbelievably brought the number back to him and replied, “Filled with food.”
Cogat posted a clip from an interview on X/Twitter, saying: “Look, this is @unreliefchief and another lie.”
“There are no 10,000 trucks waiting for Gaza. The value of hundreds of UN trucks has not been taken from the Gaza side in the past few days, and after we give you a lot of routes, you can use a lot of routes to safely distribute the assistance throughout the Gaza region.”
Kogat said another UN official on Gaza aid said
On Thursday, Kogat accused UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric of lying, Fletcher's recent visit to Gaza and the UN framework for humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Kogat noted that despite Dujarric's claim that Fletcher “sees Gaza with his own eyes a few weeks ago, UN officials have not actually visited the enclave since February.
“Let's stop focusing on aid that may be in the pipeline and start collecting content from 550 trucks that have been waiting for you inside Gaza,” Cogat wrote. “For a full week, we have been providing you with alternative routes to facilitate pickups and drop-offs. These are areas where there are active military activities, and coordination is for your own safety.”
Mathilda Heller contributed to the report.
