Israel’s killing of aid workers could force UN to halt Gaza operations

The United Nations has reportedly told Israeli officials that they may soon be forced to suspend their various humanitarian aid operations in the Gaza Strip after months of targeted killings by Israeli forces as part of their genocidal offensive.

Two UN officials told the Related Press A report released on Tuesday said the UN sent a letter to Israeli officials this month saying UN aid operations in Gaza – which function in some ways as government services – may have to be suspended if Israel does not stop targeting humanitarian workers.

The letter called on Israel to open channels through which humanitarian workers can communicate with Israeli officials to ensure that their operations are safe from the Israeli military. This process is known as deconfliction, the letter said. Talks between UN and Israeli officials are ongoing and no final decision has been made.

The UN is responsible for a wide range of relief operations in Palestine. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is the main humanitarian organization in Gaza. It runs schools, refugee camps and other shelters and coordinates relief operations of other organizations in the region.

UNICEF, the World Food Programme and the World Health Organization, among others, are providing assistance to children as well as food and health resources. Other organisations such as the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the UN Environment Programme and the UN Mine Action Service are assessing the impact of the Israeli attack on Gaza and providing data and insights into conditions on the ground.

It is unclear whether all of these programs would be affected if the UN were to suspend its humanitarian programs. But relief operations – which are the most important programs in everyday life – are relentlessly targeted by the Israeli military.

The UN has already had to suspend its operations over the US military pier in Gaza over allegations that Israeli forces used the area around the pier for a brutal military operation, massacring nearly 300 Palestinians, raising safety concerns for workers.

Although the UN calls for greater conflict prevention, certain groups stress that even conflict prevention operations have been targeted by Israeli forces.

Last month, Human Rights Watch reported that Israeli forces have attacked known aid worker locations at least eight times since October, including several incidents involving UN staff. In each of the incidents investigated by Human Rights Watch, the groups had given their coordinates to Israeli officials but were fired upon by Israeli forces anyway, strongly suggesting the military deliberately targeted them.

Of all the humanitarian organizations, UNRWA has borne the brunt of Israel’s brutal campaign of destruction. According to agency chief Philippe Lazzarini, Israeli forces have killed 193 UNRWA staff in Gaza since October and massacred a total of 250 aid workers so far. Israeli forces have continuously attacked UNRWA facilities, often in refugee camps, damaging or destroying 190 UNRWA facilities in Gaza, about half of all the agency’s facilities in the region.

Because of these attacks, UNRWA declared that Gaza is currently the most dangerous place in the world for aid workers. This makes it extremely difficult for aid agencies to carry out the work needed to contain the famine and the various epidemics ravaging Gaza – even if Israel allows the materials needed for such efforts to cross the border.

If the UN were to cease operations in Gaza, it would likely be a victory for Israel, which has targeted humanitarian workers and groups across Palestine for years. The unfounded allegations against UNRWA in January – which prompted many countries to cut off its funding – were just one of many incidents in which Israeli officials have sought to attack and delegitimize UNRWA over the years.