Israel has imposed financial restrictions on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the main agency providing aid in the Gaza Strip. The restrictions have resulted in a shipment of food donated by Turkey, intended for 1.1 million Palestinians, being halted from reaching the war-torn enclave. This move has further worsened the crisis between Israel and UNRWA, as major donor nations, including the United States, have suspended funding to the organization following Israeli allegations of UNRWA workers' involvement in an attack that sparked Israel's war in Gaza.
Philippe Lazzarini, the director of UNRWA, revealed on Friday that a convoy of food has been stranded in the Israeli port city of Ashdod for weeks. The Israeli customs authorities allegedly ordered the agency's contractor not to process any UNRWA goods, causing 1,049 shipping containers of vital supplies, including rice, flour, chickpeas, sugar, and cooking oil, to be stuck. This food would have been enough to feed 1.1 million people in Gaza for a month. It is a dire situation, with an estimated 25% of families in Gaza facing catastrophic hunger.
The World Food Program has warned that Gaza could face famine as early as May if the situation does not improve. According to the UN agency's definition, a famine occurs when 30% of children are malnourished, one-fifth of households suffer from acute food shortages, and hunger or malnutrition-related deaths reach two per 10,000 people. Given the already precarious humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where only a limited amount of aid is currently entering the territory each day, the potential consequences are alarming.
Israel's decision to impose these financial restrictions on UNRWA is not entirely unexpected. The country has long accused the agency of tolerating or even collaborating with Hamas, as well as perpetuating the longstanding Palestinian refugee crisis. UNRWA serves approximately 6 million Palestinians whose families were displaced during the war surrounding Israel's establishment in 1948, vehemently denies these allegations. Nonetheless, tensions between Israel and UNRWA have escalated in recent times due to the latest accusations by Israel.
In addition to the shipment of food being blocked, UNRWA's bank account with Bank Leumi, which has been in place for decades, has also been frozen this week. Israeli customs authorities have further notified the agency that it will no longer receive tax exemptions. Israel's finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has claimed that 'the state of Israel will not give tax benefits to terrorist aides.' Interestingly, Smotrich, a right-wing ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has not provided any comment on the matter beyond this statement.
To mitigate the impact of these restrictions, UNRWA has managed to reroute other aid shipments through Port Said in Egypt. However, Lazzarini cautioned that the delay caused by the blocked food shipment would complicate the already challenging task of aid distribution to Gaza. The war has displaced about 80% of Gaza's 2.3 million people, and for the past two weeks, the agency has been unable to deliver aid to roughly 300,000 Palestinians in the northern half of Gaza, where food insecurity is the most severe, according to the World Food Program.
Efforts have been focused on supporting the 1.3 million displaced Palestinians residing in makeshift tent camps in Rafah, a city on the border with Egypt. UNRWA relies on local police to escort aid convoys to distribution points and prevent theft. However, even this approach has become increasingly difficult due to Israeli airstrikes targeting the city. Over the past four days, eight police officers have been killed by airstrikes, prompting the police to become reluctant in assisting the agency. It is worth noting that Israeli media has portrayed the police escorts as an attempt by Hamas to seize aid shipments for its own purposes.
The allegations made by Israel last month claiming that 12 UNRWA employees participated in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in southern Israel have also added to the strain between the two parties. As a result, many donor nations have suspended funding amounting to approximately $440 million, almost half of the agency's annual budget. Two UN investigations, including an independent review, are ongoing. The review, led by a former French foreign minister, is focused on ensuring the agency remains neutral and addressing allegations of its failure to do so. Lazzarini revealed that he immediately dismissed the accused workers rather than suspending them, stating that the pressure on the organization and the challenging conditions make investigating the workers difficult.
