– What Israel is doing now is to use help as a political weapon. They try to starve the entire population to force Hama’s politically and military in their knees. This is what aid stop Jan Egeland says about Israel’s new plan for emergency aid. Since March, Israel has blocked all relief to the Gaza Strip. But now the Israeli government has come up with a new plan: Israel wants the blockade to be repealed against the government taking control of the emergency assistance and will continue to filter out who will get help. Egeland says Israel’s new ultimatum is totally unacceptable. 15 UN agencies and around 200 non-governmental aid organizations in Gaza will no longer operate in Gaza. Photo: EYAD BABA / AFP / NTB – No one can or want to take it because if we can’t make sure those who need it most get the help, then we and no donor country can’t participate in this, he says. – The times they have tried to influence us in these countries, we have always said no. We do so here too, he continues. But here is the intention to blend out Hamas people. Isn’t it fair and reasonable for Israel to do it? – We do. We give to women and children. Hamas doesn’t need a wool blanket or a liter of water. They are well provided in their tunnels. It is a myth that the help has been peeled into them. We have followed our help to the recipients. Each tent, every liter of water, says Egeland. Assistance stop Jan Egeland. Photo: Ismail Burak Akkan / news In addition to a new relief plan, Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, states that Israel has also approved a gradual expansion of the offensive against Hamas on the Gaza Strip. It involves permanent presence and moving most of the population. news has tried to get comment from the Israeli authorities, but so far failed to get answers. The United States will decide who gets help, according to AFP, Israel has informed to 15 UN agencies and around 200 non-state aid organizations that they will take full control of the distribution of emergency assistance and discontinue the current auxiliary system that organizations operate in Gaza. According to Israel, it will be left to private actors, under the control of Israel and the United States. Egeland says he has been in contact with the UN leadership and most sister organizations that are in Gaza. According to him, there are over 100 relief workers there now. – Everyone agrees to have a common front. What we ask for is that the boundaries open, so that the thousands of help broadcasts, trucks that have been ready for two months can come in before there is a lot of death, due to hunger, epidemic diseases and lack of clean water. Palestinians are in line for a portion of hot food distributed by a charity kitchen in Nuseirat Refugee Camp in central Gaza. Photo: EYAD BABA / AFP / NTB Egeland is skeptical of some private players with commercial interests who are now playing a greater role in the distribution of relief. They have nothing to do with humanitarian work, and no humanitarian organizations compromised on this, he says. – We must not do that in Gaza now. If we do so, Iran, Somalia, Sudan and maybe Syria and other countries will ask for the same. Then there is an end to humanitarian relief work as we know it from the last 100 years, says Egeland. – Humanitarian assistance must not be politicized to the Red Cross foreign manager, Jørgen Haldorsen, says that the security situation in Gaza makes all relief efforts difficult, including running a hospital in the middle of a war zone. – It is now crucial that civilian, health professionals and emergency workers are protected, and that the humanitarian players get to work according to their principles, to ensure as many as possible, says Haldorsen. – Humanitarian help must not be politicized, he says. Palestinians are in line for a hot meal at a charity kitchen run by the UN World Food Program (WFP) in Nuseirat Refugee Camp in Central Gaza Photo: Eyad Baba / AFP / NTB UN UND’s Emergency Aid Office (OCHA) is strongly distancing from Israel’s new emergency plan. – Such a plan is not in line with the basic humanitarian principles of impartiality, neutrality and independent relief deliveries. That’s what Ocha’s spokesman Jens Lærke says at a press conference in Geneva on Tuesday. “Israel’s plan is designed to further control and limit supplies, which is the opposite of what is needed,” he says. On Wednesday, the World Central Kitchen relief organization writes in a post at X that they have stopped the work in Gaza because they have run out of supplies. They add that their work cannot continue without the permission of Israel to let help come in. Hamas: Don’t want to talk about ceasefire – it makes no sense to engage in conversations or consider further ceasefire suggestions as long as the Hungry War and the War of Exclusive continue in Gaza. This is what Gaza’s former Minister of Health, Basem Naim told AFP. Gaza’s former Minister of Health, Basem Naim Photo: Khatchig Awedikian / news He urges the world community to “push the Netanyahu government to stop the war crimes with hunger, thirst and murder” in Gaza. The brokers in Qatar, who have helped with previous ceasefire, say Tuesday that they are working on a new ceasefire. They are still in contact with all parties, although there are major challenges. “We continue our work despite the difficult and disastrous humanitarian situation in Gaza,” spokesman Majed al-ansari told AFP. Published 08.05.2025, at. 17.52
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