UN Warns Continued Danger To Aid Workers In Gaza Is Becoming ‘Increasingly Intolerable’

The United Nations has warned that the continued danger to aid workers in Gaza is becoming “increasingly intolerable” as Israel’s ongoing military offensive in the enclave continues to block most humanitarian assistance and worsen an already devastating starvation crisis for Palestinians.

On Tuesday, U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters that Muhannad Hadi, the body’s humanitarian coordinator, wrote on June 17 to the Israeli military about the dire aid situation. Gilles Michaud, the U.N.’s undersecretary for security, spoke with the military on Monday, Dujarric added.

“Humanitarian operations have repeatedly been in the crosshairs in Gaza, and I think you know the number of humanitarian workers that have been killed,” Dujarric said. “We’ve repeatedly talked about humanitarian convoys shot at, and notably last Friday. We’ve talked about areas that were deconflicted that were hit — hospitals, shelters and so on. And the risks, frankly, are becoming increasingly intolerable.”

Eight months after Israel launched its military campaign in response to Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, Israeli soldiers have killed more than 37,000 Palestinians in Gaza — in addition to virtually flattening most of the enclave — and more than 500 in the occupied West Bank, the latter of which is not governed by Hamas. As of May, more than 250 aid workers have been killed in the conflict, according to the U.N.

The U.N. has already suspended cooperation with the U.S.-built pier in southern Gaza since June 9, after the Israeli military used the area to kill more than 270 Palestinians in order to rescue four hostages.

Senior U.N. officials have warned Israel that they will suspend aid operations in Gaza entirely unless there is improved protection for the world body’s humanitarian workers, The Associated Press reported on Tuesday.

A letter U.N. officials sent earlier this month reportedly demanded that the Israeli government provide aid workers with a way to directly communicate with Israeli forces on the ground in Gaza, as well as protective equipment for the humanitarian staff.

Dujarric told reporters that the U.N. “will not turn its back on the people of Gaza,” and is “just trying to find the space in which we operate within conditions that meet” its requirements.

“We’re going to continue to work with the U.N. We’ve been talking to the U.N. about seeing if we can’t help get them personal protective gear and equipment, communications, radio communication, so that their truck drivers can feel a little bit more safe,” U.S. national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Tuesday. 

“You can’t very well blame these guys for being a little bit nervous about driving a truck into Gaza when their convoys and their trucks could be attacked by these criminal gangs and thugs,” Kirby added. “So we’re going to obviously work with them and the IDF to see what can be done about that. … But you know, it is a combat zone.” 

While U.S. and Israeli officials have blamed security concerns in Gaza on “criminals” and “thugs,” relief groups and their staff have repeatedly said that the danger is also coming from being shot at by the Israeli military — and from Palestinians overwhelming the trucks out of desperation, in addition to the general lawlessness resulting from mass death and displacement.

Aid workers also say the conditions have worsened since Israel invaded Rafah last month, preventing aid workers from accessing their bases in the southern Gaza city and blocking their ability to use one of the largest aid routes into the enclave. The main remaining crossing is Kerem Shalom, where aid convoys face violence and long delays at checkpoints.

In response to the latest assessment that found 96% of Gaza’s population facing acute food insecurity at crisis level or higher, the U.N.’s World Food Programme said this week it is “deeply concerned that the much reduced ability of humanitarian organizations to deliver critical assistance in the south is jeopardizing the progress made.”

“Hostilities in Rafah in May displaced more than a million people and severely limited humanitarian access. Meanwhile, the security vacuum has fostered lawlessness and disorder which severely hamper humanitarian operations,” the group stated. “WFP now fears that southern Gaza could soon see the same catastrophic levels of hunger previously recorded in the northern areas.”

Philippe Lazzarini, who heads the U.N. agency responsible for helping Palestinian refugees, acknowledged on Tuesday at a press conference in Geneva that there is “very little positive news” on the aid front — even after Israel announced this month that it would begin a tactical pause during daytime hours along a major street in southern Gaza to facilitate the arrival of more aid.

“Now, when it comes to the aid delivery, I have to say it is becoming more and more complicated,” Lazzarini said. “It has been extraordinar[ily] excruciating over the last few weeks to bring aid. Far too many trucks have been looted” and have not reached their intended destination.

“The number of crossings remains far too limited,” Lazzarini added. “And basically, we are confronted nowadays to a near total breakdown of law and order, with truck drivers being regularly threatened or assaulted, and less and less willing to move assistance from the border to our warehouses, and from the warehouses to the people.”