Gaza Crisis: Banning Even Humanitarian Aid Shows Cruelty

Editorial

17:45 JST, November 11, 2024

Terminating support for people suffering from hunger, disease and injury is tantamount to leaving them to die. Israel’s decision to do so is extremely cruel and utterly outrageous.

The Israeli parliament has enacted legislation that bans the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which provides humanitarian aid in areas such as the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip, from operating in Israel. The ban will come into force by late January.

Furthermore, the administration of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has abandoned an agreement with the United Nations to ensure the safety of UNRWA staff members.

If UNRWA staffers are unable to conduct activities in Israel, they cannot bring in and distribute relief supplies to neighboring Gaza, and it will also be impossible for them to treat the sick and injured.

In Gaza, fighting has continued for more than a year, and over 2 million residents have been forced to live in fear of death after fleeing from their homes. If UNRWA’s activities, which can be described as a lifeline, come to a halt, residents will face an even more dire situation.

All 15 member states of the U.N. Security Council including the United States, which supports Israel, have expressed concern and condemnation regarding Israel’s ban. Israel must take this seriously.

Established in 1949, UNRWA has provided assistance to people who were driven out of their homes in the wake of the founding of Israel the previous year and their descendants. However, Israel has demanded that UNRWA be dismantled, claiming that the Gaza-based Islamist group Hamas uses the U.N. agency as cover.

It is difficult to say that Hamas and UNRWA have no connection with each other. It has been revealed that UNRWA staff members were involved in the cross-border attack by Hamas in October last year. Based on an internal investigation, UNRWA dismissed nine staffers.

UNRWA has been implementing measures to reform its staff management and operations based on recommendations from an independent U.N. investigation team.

Nevertheless, Israel has fueled distrust toward UNRWA and attacked a facility used for a mass polio vaccination campaign run by the U.N. agency in Gaza. Six people, including children, were injured in the attack. Such an inhumane act is too much to tolerate.

Israel has insisted that an organization different from UNRWA should take charge of providing aid. However, other U.N. organizations and aid groups do not have the human resources and networks to deliver aid throughout Gaza. Israel’s proposal is unrealistic.

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has continued to provide military aid to Israel and failed to stop the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Former President Donald Trump, who won a landslide victory in the recent U.S. presidential election, has notably shown a pro-Israel stance.

It is deeply concerning that the Palestinian issue will be left behind, and that the situation in the Middle East will deteriorate further.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Nov. 10, 2024)