A security source said that the shift reflects Israel’s desire to reduce UNRWA’s role in managing civilian life in Gaza as much as possible.
Ariel Kahana
(JNS)
Israel has significantly reduced the scope of aid distributed through UNRWA, and now most of the supplies entering Gaza are handled by other organizations.
According to data from Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories obtained by Israel Hayom, 52% of the food entering the Strip is delivered to the “U.N. World Food Programme (WFP),” 34% to UNRWA, and the rest to other aid organizations.
A security source told Israel Hayom that the shift is not coincidental and reflects Israel’s desire to reduce UNRWA’s role in managing civilian life in the Gaza Strip as much as possible. The move comes against the backdrop of mounting evidence showing UNRWA employees were active participants in the Oct. 7 atrocities and glorified the acts afterward.
The call to replace UNRWA was heard by dozens of public figures and experts at a special conference convened near U.N. headquarters in Geneva, under the title “International Summit for a Future Beyond UNRWA.” The special gathering was initiated by UN Watch, a watchdog that monitors U.N. activity and documents its bias against Israel.
The hardest moment of the conference was when a grieving Israeli mother, Ayelet Samerano, showed footage of a UNRWA employee brutally dragging her son Yonatan’s body and abducting it to Gaza.
Samerano tearfully appealed to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres:
“Mr. Guterres, look me in the eyes and answer me now, where is my son? Bring him back home. You are next door. You have the opportunity to speak with me and tell me what happened to my son. I’m not an investigator and cannot answer these questions. I’m just a mother who lost the most precious thing in the world.
“That is why I am standing here before you today and demanding answers about my son. We already have proof that at least 42 UNRWA employees took part in the Oct. 7 terrorist attack. For me, there is only one decision: UNRWA has no reason to exist. U.N., clean your house!”
Originally published by Israel Hayom.
Image: A Palestinian carries an aid package from UNRWA in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Sept. 27, 2018. Photo by Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90.
