Israel’s aid plan will force Gaza families to choose ‘between displacement and death’ – UN humanitarians

Israel’s plan to take control of relief assistance in Gaza risks increasing the suffering of families already exhausted by 18 months of war by putting their lives in danger and inciting more displacement, using aid as “bait”, UN humanitarians said on Friday.

UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson James Elder told journalists in Geneva that the Israeli proposal to create a handful of aid hubs exclusively in the south of the Strip would create an “impossible choice between displacement and death”.

The plan “contravenes basic humanitarian principles” and appears designed to “reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic”, he said. “It’s dangerous to ask civilians to go into militarized zones to collect rations… humanitarian aid should never be used as a bargaining chip”.

In addition, Gaza’s most vulnerable individuals - the elderly, children with disabilities, the sick and the wounded who cannot travel to designated distribution zones - will face “horrendous challenges” accessing aid, the UNICEF spokesperson insisted.

The Gaza Strip has been under a complete aid blockade for more than two months and humanitarians have warned repeatedly that food, water, medicines and fuel have been running out.

The Israeli aid distribution plan presented to UN humanitarians envisages only 60 aid trucks per day entering Gaza - “one-tenth of what was being delivered during the ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas which held from 19 January to 18 March, Mr. Elder explained.

“It's not nearly enough to meet the needs of 1.1 million children, 2.1 million people,” he insisted. “There is a simple alternative: lift the blockade, let humanitarian aid in, save lives.”

The UN agency spokesperson also expressed concern that the Israeli plan risks separating family members “while they move back and forth to try and get aid” from the designated locations in a territory that “lacks any safety” amid ongoing bombardments.

Stressing the success of the UN-led aid scale up during the ceasefire, humanitarian affairs coordination office spokesperson Jens Laerke urged the Israeli authorities to “facilitate the aid that we and our partners have available just a few kilometres away” just outside Gaza.

UNRWA, the largest aid provider in the Strip, said that the UN agency has “over 3,000 trucks of aid” that are stuck outside Gaza.

Juliette Touma, Director of Communications, deplored the fact that such a “big dollar figure” was going to waste, when the food could be reaching hungry children and when medicine could be used to treat people with chronic diseases.

“The clock is ticking. The gates must reopen, the siege must be lifted as soon as possible,” she insisted, while calling for the release of Israeli hostages and a return to a standard flow of humanitarian supplies.

Inside Gaza, aid teams warn that the situation is desperate. “Even those [food] lines are now gone because food is running out,” said UNRWA’s Ms. Touma.

In an update on Thursday, OCHA said that more than 80 community kitchens have been forced to shut since late April, owing to the lack of supplies. This number is rising “by the day”, fuelling “widespread” hunger in Gaza, the UN aid coordination office said.

Rebutting Israeli allegations that aid reaching Gaza has been diverted by militant groups, both Ms. Touma and UN World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson Dr. Margaret Harris described “end-to-end” systems put in place to counter this risk.

“Our supplies are reaching the health facilities they’re meant to serve,” said Dr. Harris, adding that the UN health agency had not witnessed any aid diversion within the health care system.

“It is not about failure of aid delivery within Gaza. It is about not being allowed to bring it in,” Dr. Harris concluded.

In a further note of caution about the Israeli plan, UNICEF’s Mr. Elder insisted that the proposed use of facial recognition as a precondition to access aid ran against all humanitarian principles to “screen and monitor beneficiaries for intelligence and military purposes”.

He recalled that the ceasefire earlier this year had resulted in a “huge” improvement in children’s nutrition.

“It meant food in the markets, repaired water systems…It meant people could access health care safely. It meant health care facilitators had medicines that they need.”

Fast forward to today and food, water, medicines - “everything for a child to survive” - is being blocked, Mr. Elder said — “and in many ways, boastfully blocked”.

“The only thing entering Gaza right now is bombs.”

-ends-

STORY: Gaza aid update UNICEF - UNRWA - WHO 9 May 2025

TRT: 3:12”

SOURCE: UNTV CH

RESTRICT

IONS: NONE

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS

ASPECT RATIO: 16:9

DATELINE: 9 MAY 2025 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

1. Exterior wide shot: Palais des Nations, Flag Alley.

2. Wide shot: Speakers at the podium of the press conference from rear; speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.

3. SOUNDBITE (English) – James Elder, spokesperson, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF): “After careful analysis, it appears the design of the plan presented by Israel to the humanitarian community will increase ongoing suffering of children and families in the Gaza Strip.”

4. Wide shot: Speakers at the podium of the press conference from rear; speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.

5. SOUNDBITE (English) – James Elder, spokesperson, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF): “It's dangerous to civilians to go into militarized zones to collect rations. It further entrenches forced displacement for political and military purposes, and humanitarian aid should never be used as a bargaining chip. The most vulnerable people, the elderly, children with disabilities, sick and wounded who cannot travel to these designated zones will face horrendous challenges in getting aid.”

6. Wide shot: Speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.

7. SOUNDBITE (English) – James Elder, spokesperson, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF): “We are very concerned about the proposal to use facial recognition as a precondition to access aid. It's against all humanitarian principles to screen and monitor beneficiaries for intelligence and military purposes.”

8. Close shot: Journalist in the Press room.

9. SOUNDBITE (English) – James Elder, spokesperson, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF): “And according to the plan, as we've seen it, there will only be 60 trucks delivering aid to the Gaza Strip every day. This is one tenth of what was being delivered during the ceasefire. It's not nearly enough to meet the needs of 1.1 million children, 2.1 million people. So, civilians must not be forced to flee again and the use of humanitarian aid as a bait to force displacement, especially from the north to the south, will create this impossible choice between displacement and death.”

10. Medium shot: Speakers at the podium of the press conference from rear; speaker on screen.

11. SOUNDBITE (English) – James Elder, spokesperson, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF): “The ceasefire made a huge improvement in the nutritional situation of girls and boys. It meant food in the markets, repaired water systems. It meant people could access health care safely. It meant health care facilitators had medicines that they need. Now, of course, food, water, medicines, everything for a child to survive is being blocked. And in many ways boastfully blocked. So the only thing entering Gaza right now is bombs.”

12. Wide shot: Speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.

13. SOUNDBITE (English) – Juliette Touma, Director of Communications, UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA): “UNRWA alone, we have over 3,000 trucks of aid that are stuck outside Gaza. And that's a really big dollar figure, right, that is going to waste. So instead of food going to children or medicine going to chronic patients, that's likely going to be wasted. So, the clock is ticking. The gates must reopen, the siege must be lifted as soon as possible.”

14. Wide shot: Speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.

15. SOUNDBITE (English) – Margaret Harris, Spokesperson, World Health Organization (WHO): “We have not seen any diversion, within the health system, we've not witnessed any aid diversion. Our supplies are reaching the health facilities they’re meant to serve. And just as other colleagues have said this, we have a system end to end to make sure the aid gets served. So it is not about failure of aid delivery within Gaza. It is about not being allowed to bring it in.”

16. Various shots of journalists in the Press room.