Israeli United Nations Ambassador Danny Danon condemned what he called a ‘shakedown’ by the U.N. to prevent Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) from working with the new U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
While addressing the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday, Danon claimed that the world body was using ‘threats, intimidation and retaliation’ against NGOs that dared to defy the international body’s call to boycott GHF. The Israeli diplomat described the U.N.’s response to NGOs cooperating with GHF as ‘mafia-like.’
‘Without any discussion, without due process, the U.N. removed those NGOs from the shared aid database. That database is the central system for tracking aid deliveries into Gaza,’ Danon told the Security Council. ‘This is the gravest violation of the U.N.’s own principles. It is extortion of well-meaning NGOs that refuse to kiss the ring.’
In the same Security Council meeting, Acting U.S. Alternate Representative John Kelley urged the U.N. to work with GHF and Israel ‘to reach agreements on how to operationalize this system in a way that works for all.’ Kelley also emphasized the need to ensure that Hamas cannot benefit from any humanitarian aid distribution system that is established.
On Wednesday, GHF said in a statement that it had opened another secure aid distribution site ‘without incident.’ The organization also addressed some claims about its operations. GHF said that, contrary to reports, no Palestinians have been questioned or detained while receiving aid. Additionally, GHF said that no Palestinians had been shot or killed while trying to get aid.
GHF disputes reports that its sites were overrun on Tuesday: ‘GHF anticipated that the [safe distribution sites] may experience pressure due to acute hunger and Hamas-imposed blockades, which create dangerous conditions outside the gates.
‘According to established protocol, for a brief moment the GHF team intentionally relaxed its security protocols to safeguard against crowd reactions to finally receiving food. No beneficiaries were injured, no lives were lost and all food available was distributed without interference. Order was restored without incident. As in all emergency response situations, particularly in conflict zones, this type of reaction from stressed beneficiary populations is expected and we remain prepared to continue providing lifesaving assistance should disruptions occur.
‘Unfortunately, there are many parties who wish to see GHF fail. Conditions remain very difficult and the lives of both Gazans and aid workers are at stake,’ GHF said in a statement.
The international community has not relented in its push against GHF.
U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher — who once called the plan behind GHF a ‘fig leaf for further violence and displacement’ of Palestinians in Gaza — has made his objections to the program clear. Fletcher made an appeal in a post on X to let the U.N. take control of aid distribution in Gaza.
‘We have the supplies, plan, will, and networks to deliver massive amounts of lifesaving aid to civilians in Gaza, in line with humanitarian principles, as the world is demanding,’ Fletcher wrote.
Earlier this month, Fletcher urged the international community not to ‘waste time’ with a new plan when the U.N. already had one in place.
On Wednesday, as Israel marked 600 days since the Oct. 7 massacre, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) noted that ‘121 trucks belonging to the U.N. and the international community’ were allowed into the Gaza Strip. The IDF said that the trucks were carrying food and other aid.