Gaza: Israel must restore UN humanitarian system to stave off starvation, say UN experts

To avert further deaths and inhuman suffering by starvation, Israel must immediately restore unimpeded access to Gaza by impartial humanitarian organisations, including the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN experts* said today.

“All States must act decisively to prevent Israel’s destruction of the conditions of life in Gaza and stop its endless war on humanity,” the experts said. “States must do everything in their power to restore the UN humanitarian system in Gaza.”

Over 500,000 people – a quarter of Gaza’s population – are facing famine. The rest are suffering from emergency levels of hunger. All 320,000 children under five are at risk of acute malnutrition, with serious lifelong physical and mental health consequences.

“Starvation has been used as a savage weapon of war and constitutes crime under international law. Israel’s failed experiment with militarised, privatised aid delivery by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has inflicted severe food shortages and killed almost 1,400 people seeking food. This is a predictable result of disrupting effective, impartial humanitarian relief by trusted, experienced international actors,” the experts said.

In a previous communication, they condemned two Israeli laws that prohibit Israeli cooperation with UNRWA, which has long played a vital role in coordinating UN humanitarian relief in Palestine. The new laws have illegally impeded the work and free movement of 17,000 UNRWA staff, disrupted UNRWA’s finances and its movement of goods and vehicles, and interfered with UNRWA premises, including its headquarters in East Jerusalem. It has also undermined security coordination with Israel, endangering humanitarians.

The General Assembly and the Security Council have both declared that UNRWA is the indispensable backbone of UN humanitarian relief for 2.3 million Gazans, including food, shelter and health care, particularly for women and children and nearly 2 million displaced persons. UNRWA also provides education, social assistance, poverty relief and water and sanitation.

Israel has clear international legal obligations to cooperate with UNRWA under the United Nations Charter, General Assembly resolutions, the 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, and international humanitarian law.

“Israel’s restrictions on UNRWA are based on unfounded allegations that it was involved in terrorism, which resulted in 16 States hastily suspending funding,” the experts said. “Following two independent reviews, and Israel’s failure to prove its accusations, all donors but the United States resumed funding.”

The UN Secretary-General has warned that UNRWA is now at an “unprecedented breaking point” due to the U.S. freeze on funds.

The Colonna Review confirmed UNRWA’s sophisticated procedures for guaranteeing its neutrality and UNRWA accepted all recommendations for further improvement. The independent review noted that Israel had never raised concerns about UNRWA staff when UNRWA shared its staff lists annually and stressed that preventing armed interference in UNRWA’s activities is a shared responsibility.

“Israel has an international legal duty to protect UNRWA from armed interference, by sharing information with UNRWA about threats to its staff, premises or activities and coordinating appropriate responses,” the experts said. These obligations stem from Israel’s duties to maintain public order in occupied territory, facilitate and protect humanitarian relief activities, and uphold UNRWA’s privileges and immunities.

“We regret that Israel has recently expanded its smear campaign alleging terrorism to include OCHA,” the experts said, condemning arbitrary new regulations restricting visas for international humanitarian staff, that have already impeded access by senior OCHA personnel.

Recent reports stated that Israeli military officials found no evidence of systematic aid diversion by Hamas from the UN and concluded that UN relief was effective.

Israel has also obstructed international human rights mechanisms and their staff from accessing Gaza, including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and independent experts. It has severely impeded reporting by barring international media and targeting local journalists with impunity.

The experts urged States to secure an immediate ceasefire, ensure the hostages are released, and punish all perpetrators of international crimes.

“States must ensure the end of illegal occupation as required by the International Court of Justice and fully realise the self-determination of the Palestinians in an independent, secure State of Palestine,” they said.