Following the shooting of United Nations humanitarian workers, unusually strong criticism has come from the USA. The ally is demanding that Israel take concrete steps.
After a UN humanitarian vehicle was shot at in the Gaza Strip, the United States is increasing the pressure on its ally Israel in a much harsher tone. Israel has explained the incident as a communication error between the Israeli forces, said the American deputy UN ambassador Robert Wood at a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York. “We have called on them to immediately correct the problems in their system that made this possible. But even almost eleven months after the start of this conflict, incidents like yesterday’s are still all too common.”
The United Nations had demanded an explanation from Israel after Tuesday’s incident. The clearly marked UN humanitarian vehicle was part of a convoy whose journey was fully coordinated with the Israeli army. It was shot at ten times by Israeli gunmen. Israel had announced an investigation. A UN representative confirmed the Israeli version of the faulty communication to the German Press Agency – but this in no way excuses what happened.
UN does not rule out intent
Such incidents make the work of aid organizations much more difficult and should not happen, Wood continued. “Israel must not only take responsibility for its mistakes, but also take concrete measures to ensure that Israeli forces do not shoot at UN employees again.” The harsh rhetoric against the UN and humanitarian aid workers must also stop because it increases the risk for the organizations. Israeli representatives have repeatedly associated the UN and its employees with terrorist supporters.
“Whether the information was not passed on, whether it was intentional, whether there was another reason – these are explanations we would like to receive,” UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said on Wednesday. Fortunately, it was an armored car, so the occupants were not injured. The vehicle belonged to the World Food Program (WFP), which temporarily suspended the movement of its employees in Gaza in response to the incident. According to the WFP, the incident occurred a few meters from an Israeli checkpoint in central Gaza after a team of aid workers had escorted trucks carrying humanitarian aid in two UN cars. Although the convoy had explicit permission to travel, the shots were fired, it said.
Not the first case
“The Israeli army considers humanitarian efforts and the protection of humanitarian workers to be very important,” the Israeli army said. The State of Israel is committed to improving coordination with humanitarian organizations and security in order to ensure the effective delivery of relief supplies to the coastal strip.
Since the beginning of the Gaza war almost eleven months ago, aid workers have been killed again and again. At the beginning of April, around seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen (WCK) organization were killed in an Israeli air strike.
Source: Stern
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