Gaza: UN agencies call for aid ‘surge’ as Israeli distribution plan begins
Reports indicated on Tuesday that Israel’s controversial aid distribution plan had begun in Gaza as the United Nations called once again on the Israeli authorities to allow an “immediate surge” in the amount of supplies reaching the enclave to prevent starvation.
After nearly three months of complete blockade by Israel, a “vastly insufficient” amount of aid was finally allowed into the war-ravaged enclave in the last week, insisted Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN aid coordination office, OCHA.
“We have not stopped operating,” he said, referring to staff still inside Gaza, who are tasked with liaising with the Israeli authorities to retrieve supplies allowed into Gaza from Israel, via the Kerem Shalom crossing.
Mr. Laerke insisted that the UN is not participating in the Israeli aid plan: “It is a distraction from what is actually needed, which is a reopening of all the crossings into Gaza, a secure environment within Gaza and faster facilitation of permissions and final approvals of all the emergency supplies that we have just outside the border; [aid] needs to get in.”
The veteran humanitarian stressed the ongoing dangers and obstacles that have prevented aid teams from picking up and dispatching lifesaving supplies.
“We are not always able to collect what is being dropped off on the other side because of the insecure routes that are being assigned to us by the Israeli authorities to use.”
All types of aid must be allowed through and not “cherry-picked”, Mr. Laerke stressed: “The bottom line again is that we are talking about a vastly insufficient amount of aid that eventually enters Gaza at the moment. That’s why we need [the] opening of more crossings, we need all types of aid - not that aid that is cherry-picked by the Israeli side that we are allowed to get in.”
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, meanwhile, explained that “no supplies whatsoever” prepared by the agency have reached Gaza since the Israeli siege began on 2 March.
This is despite UNRWA having readied more than 3,000 trucks carrying food and medicines in Jordan and Egypt which will perish soon.
“We have clinics, we have pharmacies that the agency runs and there we normally would distribute medicines against chronic diseases…but also basic medicines, things like paracetamol and then childhood diseases and these are the medicines that we're running out of,” said Juliette Touma, UNRWA Director of Communications.
The development comes as UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini urged the Israeli Government to provide proof to back up repeated damaging allegations of "systemic infiltration by Hamas”.
Investigations carried out internally by the UN last year found sufficient evidence that nine active UNRWA staff out of the many thousands it employs had been involved in the Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel that sparked the war in October 2023.
A separate independent probe commissioned by the UN Secretary-General found that the agency’s rules, mechanisms and procedures were the most “elaborate” within the UN, reflecting the complex and sensitive demands associated with working in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
“It’s been over 20 months of these claims coming our way, harming the agency's reputation of course, but more importantly, putting the lives of our staff, especially those working in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, at risk,” said Ms. Touma.
Despite numerous requests by UNRWA to the Israeli Government for evidence to substantiate “numerous accusations”, no evidence has been shared to back up the claims against the agency and its personnel, Ms. Touma continued.
ends
STORY: Gaza humanitarian update – OCHA, UNRWA
TRT: 3’53”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 27 May 2025 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Speakers:
SHOTLIST
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
Gazans’ response to food distributions ‘overwhelming’ as humanitarians scale up under fragile ceasefire
In Gaza, the ceasefire is enabling UN humanitarians to reach more desperate people with life-saving food, but greater access is needed to contain the spread of famine.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP , OCHA
UN urges opening of all Gaza crossings to deliver three-month food supply
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned food aid cannot reach everyone in Gaza unless all border crossings are opened, particularly in the north where famine was declared in August. The agency says it already has enough supplies in place to feed the entire population of the Strip for three months – if full access is granted by Israel.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNDP , UNICEF , OCHA , ICRC
Around $70 billion will be needed to reconstruct Gaza and make it safe after two years of war, UN development experts said on Tuesday, while aid agencies reported that far too little aid continues to reach desperate Palestinians.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN human rights office, OHCHR, on Friday welcomed the Nobel Peace Prize committee’s decision to name Maria Machado as this year’s laureate, in recognition of her work promoting the Venezuelan people’s democratic hopes.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , UNICEF , WHO
As Gazans jammed the main route leading north on Friday after a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas was announced, UN aid teams repeated their call to open all crossings into the devastated enclave to prevent famine spreading.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF , WHO
Two years of Gaza-Israel war bring ‘indescribable’ pain: UN humanitarians
Two years since the Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel, UN humanitarians on Tuesday reiterated calls for the release of all hostages in Gaza, an immediate ceasefire and an aid surge to alleviate Palestinians’ suffering, as talks on a US-driven peace plan continued in Egypt.
1
1
1
Edited News
Syria prison survivor seeks justice for the missing with UN backing.
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday warned that three and a half years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, the war in Ukraine has entered an even more dangerous and deadly stage for Ukrainian civilians, under relentless bombardment of their schools, hospitals, and shelters.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO , ICRC
Quadcopter victims, terror and death: 30 minutes in a Gaza hospital
UN aid teams on Friday highlighted the disturbing situation in Gaza’s makeshift hospitals, where premature babies cry for scant oxygen and medics attempt to save child survivors targeted by airstrikes in their tents and quadcopter victims reportedly shot while fetching bread.
2
1
2
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Thursday delivered his oral update to the UN Human Rights Council’s 60th session on the human rights situation in Haiti.
The High Commissioner welcomed Wednesday’s decision of the UN Security Council to strengthen the Multinational Security Support mission by transitioning to the Gang Suppression Force for Haiti, stating it is a strong signal of international support for the Haitian people.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF
Gaza: As world waits for US peace plan news, UN aid teams stress need for ceasefire
UN agencies reiterated calls for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza on Tuesday to help alleviate Palestinian suffering, as a new US 20-point plan raised hopes of a halt to the fighting.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
The ongoing Israeli military offensive in Gaza City continues to overwhelm the war-torn enclave’s medical professionals, with four more hospitals forced to shut down this month alone, the UN World Health Organization said on Friday.