He told the 15-member council that such a policy would be “horrible and unacceptable and would have implications for international law and U.S. law.”
“The Israeli government has said that this is not their policy and that food and other essentials will not be cut off, and we are watching closely to see if Israeli actions on the ground are consistent with this statement.” Greenfield said. The United States’ stance toward its longtime ally is gradually increasing.
The United States must force Israel to take steps in the next 30 days to improve the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclaves or face possible restrictions on U.S. military aid, a U.S. official said Tuesday. revealed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss expanding humanitarian aid to Gaza, three officials who attended the meeting said, adding that aid could soon be expanded. said.
“Food and supplies must flood into Gaza immediately. There must also be a humanitarian moratorium across Gaza to allow for the delivery and distribution of vaccinations and humanitarian aid.”Thomas Green Mr. Field said. On October 7, 2023, a deadly attack on southern Israel by Palestinian Hamas militants triggered Israeli retaliation in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip and triggered a humanitarian crisis in the besieged enclave. Officials said more than 42,000 people had died and nearly the entire population of 2.3 million had been evacuated. Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon told the Council that the Gaza issue is not a lack of aid, noting that more than 1 million tons of aid had been provided in the past year. He accused Hamas of hijacking humanitarian aid.
“Israel, along with its international partners, continues to pour aid into Gaza, but as long as Hamas remains in power, aid will never reach all those who need it,” he said. “Hamas has weaponized a humanitarian situation.”
Hamas has repeatedly denied Israeli claims that it is stealing aid and maintains that Israel is responsible for the shortages.
“Unscrupulous”
The United Nations has long complained of obstacles to getting aid to Gaza and distributing aid across the conflict zone, and has accused Israel of obstacles and illegal actions. The United Nations announced that no food aid was received in northern Gaza from October 2 to October 15.
“Given the dire conditions and intolerable suffering in northern Gaza, the fact that humanitarian access is almost non-existent is unconscionable,” Joyce Musya, acting UN aid chief, told the board.
On Wednesday, the Israeli military unit that oversees aid and commercial shipments to Gaza announced that 50 trucks loaded with food, water, medical supplies and evacuation equipment provided by Jordan had been transferred to northern Gaza.
Musya said that of the 286 humanitarian operations coordinated with Israel across Gaza in the past two weeks, less than a third had been carried out without major incidents or delays.
She said humanitarian teams arrived at two hospitals in northern Gaza on October 12 after being refused or blocked nine times by Israeli forces. They transported more than a dozen critically ill patients to Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
“These missions were completed in the midst of intense hostilities,” Musya said, adding that the convoy’s drivers were “subjected to humiliating treatment during security checks and temporary detention” at Israeli checkpoints. added.
“Medical staff kept one child alive by manually pumping oxygen into him for over seven hours until he passed through the checkpoint,” she said.
Danon cited the recent medical mission as an example of Israel’s “comprehensive” humanitarian efforts, adding: “As always, we went above and beyond our obligations and acted in accordance with international law.”
Danon also spoke about how on Monday the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF and the World Health Organization began a second round of polio vaccinations targeting 590,000 children under 10 during the regional hiatus. .
Algeria’s ambassador to the UN, Amal Bendjama, questioned Israel’s humanitarian efforts.
“How is it possible that we can vaccinate these children but not feed them?” he said. “The inescapable conclusion is that this is not collateral damage, but a deliberately calculated Israeli starvation policy.”
