United Nations secretary general António Guterres on Tuesday rejected a new Israeli proposal to control aid deliveries in Gaza, saying it risked “further controlling and callously limiting aid down to the last calorie and grain of flour”.
“Let me be clear: We will not participate in any arrangement that does not fully respect the humanitarian principles: humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality,” Mr Guterres told reporters.
No aid has been delivered to the Palestinian enclave of some 2.1 million people since March 2nd. Israel has said it would not allow the entry of goods and supplies into Gaza until Palestinian militant group Hamas released all remaining hostages.
Cogat, the Israeli military agency that co-ordinates aid, last week met with UN agencies and international aid groups and said it proposed “a structured monitoring and aid entry mechanism” for Gaza.
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“The mechanism is designed to support aid organisations, enhance oversight and accountability, and ensure that assistance reaches the civilian population in need, rather than being diverted and stolen by Hamas,” Cogat posted on the social media platform X on Sunday.
Jonathan Whittall, the senior UN aid official for Gaza and the West Bank, said last week there was no evidence of aid being diverted.
Israel last month resumed its bombardment of Gaza after a two-month truce and sent troops back into the enclave.
“Gaza is a killing field – and civilians are in an endless death loop,” said Mr Guterres as he again called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, a permanent ceasefire, and full humanitarian access in Gaza.
“With crossing points into Gaza shut and aid blockaded, security is in shambles and our capacity to deliver has been strangled,” he said.
“As the occupying power, Israel has unequivocal obligations under international law – including international humanitarian law and international human rights law,” Mr Guterres said.
That meant Israel should facilitate relief programmes and ensure food, medical care, hygiene and public health standards in Gaza, he said. “None of that is happening today.”
Israel says it does not exercise effective control over Gaza and therefore is not an occupying power.
The war in Gaza was triggered on October 7th, 2023, when Hamas killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and took some 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, more than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Responding to questions from reporters about a US push to take control of the Gaza Strip, Mr Guterres said it would be against international law for Palestinians to be forced to move away.
“Palestinians must be able to live in a Palestinian state side by side with an Israeli state. That is the only solution that can bring peace to the Middle East,” the UN chief said.
In a separate development, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister arrived in the United States on Tuesday for an official visit aimed at planning President Donald Trump’s expected trip to the kingdom later this spring, according to source close to the Saudi royal court.
Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud would also discuss Gaza and the status of Yemen’s Houthis during meetings with US government officials, the source said.
The trip was scheduled before last week’s US tariffs announcement, the source added. Mr Trump’s tariff offensive has rattled markets and raised fears of a global recession that could drive down the price of oil, Saudi Arabia’s main export.
An official source confirmed Prince Faisal’s arrival in Washington but did not give further details.
Mr Trump plans to visit Saudi Arabia as early as May to sign an investment agreement in what will be the first foreign trip of his second term, with stops also planned in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. He made Saudi Arabia and Israel the initial stops on his inaugural foreign trip during his first term in 2017.
The US president hosted Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday and discussed the proposal for the US to take control of Gaza.
Mr Trump’s plan has been globally condemned, including by Saudi Arabia.
Mr Trump also said on Monday he would like the war in Gaza to stop and that he thought that could happen relatively soon.
In Yemen, which borders Saudi Arabia to the south, the United States has launched air strikes against the Iran-aligned Houthis, with the stated aim of ending the group’s attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.
The air strikes are the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since Mr Trump took office in January. − Reuters
