Can new UN humanitarian coordinator Sigrid Kaag get more aid into embattled Gaza?

Special Can new UN humanitarian coordinator Sigrid Kaag get more aid into embattled Gaza?
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A paramedic assists a woman carrying a child arriving at the European Hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on December 31, 2023. (AFP)
Special Can new UN humanitarian coordinator Sigrid Kaag get more aid into embattled Gaza?
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In this photo taken on July 28, 2009, Sigrid Kaag, then UNICEF's regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, gives a press conference in front of the debris of the American School in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, which was demolished during an Israeli military operation. (AFP/File)
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Updated 22 January 2024
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Can new UN humanitarian coordinator Sigrid Kaag get more aid into embattled Gaza?

Can new UN humanitarian coordinator Sigrid Kaag get more aid into embattled Gaza?
  • Veteran Dutch politician takes on UN’s aid brief for Gaza as Israeli forces continue to bombard Palestinian enclave
  • Curbs on delivery of humanitarian supplies to displaced civilians have left Gaza “uninhabitable”

DUBAI: Sigrid Kaag, the UN’s newly appointed senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, faces a monumental task as she takes the reins of the world body’s relief operations in the embattled Palestinian enclave. 

Twelve weeks of relentless Israeli bombardment and restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian relief to displaced civilians have left the Gaza Strip “uninhabitable” and on the brink of famine, according to aid chiefs.

With the UN thus far unable to provide sufficient assistance to civilians, many in the aid community hope that a change in leadership could help move the dial on the stunted humanitarian response.

“Peace, security and justice have always been my motivations,” Kaag said in a statement on taking up the new UN role. “I have accepted this special assignment in the hope to contribute to a better future.”




Sigrid Kaag takes on the UN’s aid brief for Gaza as Israeli forces continue to bombard the Palestinian enclave, causing displacement and a mounting health crisis. (AFP/File)

However, given the scale of the humanitarian challenges and the obstacles thrown up by Israel and its allies in Washington, some observers and analysts have been left wondering whether Kaag’s appointment will make any difference. 

Israel mounted its military campaign in Gaza in retaliation for the unprecedented Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which resulted in the death of 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and the kidnap of 240. 

In the months since the outbreak of fighting, more than 22,700 people have died in Gaza under Israeli bombardment, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, while almost two million have been displaced. 




A girl mourns the death of her relatives who were killed by Israeli bombardment at the European Hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on December 31, 2023. (AFP)

In southern Gaza — where most of the enclave’s 2.3 million people now live in makeshift shelters with limited access to food, water and health care — the Israeli military has continued bombing raids, despite deeming these areas safe havens for displaced Gazans.

Kaag, who took over the UN’s Gaza relief operation on Jan. 8, was appointed to the new role following a breakthrough UN Security Council resolution passed on Dec. 22, which called on all parties to “facilitate and enable the immediate, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale.”

One of the Netherlands’ leading lawmakers, Kaag formerly served as the deputy head of government and finance and foreign minister under the country’s longtime prime minister, Mark Rutte.

FASTFACTS

Sigrid Kaag is the UN’s newly appointed senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza.

Her role was created as part of a breakthrough UN Security Council resolution passed on Dec. 22.

The veteran politician has worked for UNRWA, UNICEF and as UN special coordinator for Lebanon.

When the Dutch coalition government collapsed and new elections were called at the end of November 2023, Kaag declared she would be retiring from politics. However, the Arab studies graduate has since returned to her old place of work at the UN to take on one of the most challenging tasks of her career. 

From 1994 to 1997, Kaag was the head of the Donor Relations Department at UNRWA, and subsequently headed UNICEF’s Middle East and North Africa Regional Directorate in Amman, Jordan.

In 2013 and 2014, she led the joint mission by the UN and Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to destroy Syrian chemical weapons. Afterwards, she held the position of UN special coordinator for Lebanon.




In this photo taken on July 28, 2009, Sigrid Kaag, then UNICEF's regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, gives a press conference in front of the debris of the American School in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, which was demolished during an Israeli military operation. (AFP/File)

Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary general, said Kaag “brings a wealth of experience in political, humanitarian, and development affairs as well as in diplomacy,” and is also fluent in Arabic as well as five other languages.

“She will facilitate, coordinate, monitor and verify humanitarian relief consignments to Gaza,” said Guterres, emphasizing how she will also establish a UN mechanism to accelerate aid deliveries “through states which are not party to the conflict.”

Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, held a call with Kaag on Monday in which they underscored the importance of strengthening the coordination mechanism delivering humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza, according to a State Department statement.

They emphasized a shared commitment to reach the most vulnerable, including urgently expanding the entry of aid and commercial goods into Gaza, increasing the use of localized aid to meet immediate needs, and enhancing funding for humanitarian assistance. 

While Kaag’s resume is impressive, the challenge of getting aid into Gaza is immense, frustrating the best efforts of the UN’s top humanitarian officials.




Egyptian paramedics transport an injured Palestinian child to a Red Crescent ambulance upon his arrival from Gaza via the Rafah border crossing on January 10, 2024.  (AFP)

According to the UN’s aid chief, Martin Griffiths, Gaza has become a place of “death and despair” for Palestinians. In a special statement on Jan. 7, he said: “Gaza has simply become uninhabitable. Its people are witnessing daily threats to their very existence — while the world watches on. 

“A public health disaster is unfolding. Infectious diseases are spreading in overcrowded shelters as sewers spill over. Some 180 Palestinian women are giving birth daily amidst this chaos. People are facing the highest levels of food insecurity ever recorded. Famine is around the corner.

“For children, the past 12 weeks have been traumatic: No food. No water. No school. Nothing but the terrifying sounds of war, day in and day out.”

Amid severe shortages of food, water and medicine, disease and hunger are spreading throughout Gaza. According to UNRWA, some 40 percent of Gaza’s population is “at risk of famine.”

A report released at the end of December by 23 UN agencies and NGOs said that out of Gaza’s entire population of 2.3 million, 576,000 people are at catastrophic or starvation levels, with the risk of famine “increasing each day.” 

The report blamed the hunger crisis on insufficient aid entering Gaza. 

Although it is constrained by the geopolitical wrangling of the UN Security Council, the UN is widely seen as the only body capable of responding to the massive humanitarian challenges posed by the war in Gaza.

“Everything that happens in Gaza will require consensus,” Ziad Asali, the founder and president of the American Task Force on Palestine, a non-profit, non-partisan organization based in Washington, told Arab News. 

“That is why the UN is the main venue for getting things done and not just proposed.”

However, there is a widespread view that the UN Security Council’s Dec. 22 resolution on aid for Gaza, adopted with 13 votes in favor and the US and Russia abstaining, has been so watered down that it will fail to meet the challenges posed by the conflict. 

Lahib Higel, a senior analyst at the Middle East and North Africa program at International Crisis Group, told Arab News that only an immediate and lasting ceasefire would allow sufficient aid into Gaza. 

“What we have argued at ICG from early on, and what was also reflected in the (UN) secretary general’s press conference after the resolution was adopted, is that you’re not going to have a significantly improved situation in Gaza unless you have a ceasefire,” Higel said.

“That’s really the bottom-line condition, but there’s an understanding that it is not on the horizon anytime soon.”




Palestinian children look from the windows of a minibus at a market in Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on January 8, 2024 amid continuing battles between Israel and Hamas forces. (Photo by AFP)

With a ceasefire off the table for the time being, humanitarians and diplomats must find ways to help Gaza.

“There have been several obstacles throughout this period,” Higel said. “The main one is, of course, that Israel not only shut down its border crossings with Gaza through which most of the commercial and aid traffic was coming … it also shut down all essential services to Gaza — electricity grids, water pipelines.”

Although some of those water pipelines have resumed operations, damage caused by Israeli bombardment is still widespread. 

“They don’t operate full-time. You still don’t have electricity. There are constant communication blackouts, which means that distribution becomes extremely chaotic because people have been used to being notified through SMS messages, which they then can no longer receive,” Higel said.

“And then what was left was the border crossing in Rafah, which initially was a pedestrian crossing. It doesn’t have the infrastructure that Kerem Shalom (border crossing) has.” 

While about 500 trucks a day used to enter Gaza via Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel before Oct. 7, only about 100 trucks a day can pass through the Rafah crossing with Egypt. 




A truck carrying a humanitarian aid cargo arrives from Egypt on the Israeli side of the Kerem Shalom border crossing, before entering the southern Gaza Strip, on January 10, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. (AFP)

Despite the reopening of Kerem Shalom in mid-December, Higel said that there was still not enough aid entering Gaza. 

“Part of the reason is there is only so much that you can facilitate each day, considering the rigid inspections that Israel requires,” she said. 

“Secondly, they (Israel) still reject a lot of goods based on their dual-use potential — fuel, construction material — that you would need for shelter.

“What can the UN do under these conditions? Quite little. It also took them quite a long time to set up a logistics hub that is actually working because the UN infrastructure was based in Israel.”

Other barriers to the UN’s work in Gaza include the denial of visas.

In early December, Israel told the UN that it would not renew the visa of its resident humanitarian coordinator in the Palestinian territories, Lynn Hastings, effectively kicking her out of the country.

The precise details surrounding the aid mechanism Kaag will devise have yet to be revealed. One thing is clear, however — she faces a colossal task finding new ways to get aid into Gaza while navigating Israel’s continuing bombardment and strict controls on entry.

Only time will tell whether Kaag’s appointment will prove transformative for Gaza’s stricken population or merely a continuation of the UN’s lackluster response to a deepening humanitarian catastrophe.

 


Turkiye, Greece must work together to resolve host of issues, Turkish minister says

Turkiye, Greece must work together to resolve host of issues, Turkish minister says
Updated 7 sec ago
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Turkiye, Greece must work together to resolve host of issues, Turkish minister says

Turkiye, Greece must work together to resolve host of issues, Turkish minister says
  • Issues between NATO allies Turkiye and Greece are not limited to disagreements over maritime boundaries and jurisdiction in the eastern Mediterranean
ANKARA: Issues between NATO allies Turkiye and Greece are not limited to disagreements over maritime boundaries and jurisdiction in the eastern Mediterranean, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Friday, adding the historic rivals must work together to resolve them.
Speaking at a press conference in Athens alongside his Greek counterpart, Fidan also repeated Ankara’s view that a federation model to resolve the dispute over the ethnically-split island of Cyprus was no longer viable, calling for a two-state solution.
He also said Turkiye wanted to deepen cooperation with Greece on irregular migration and counter-terrorism, while increasing cooperation on tourism and cultural affairs.

HRW urges immediate action on incendiary weapons amid Gaza, Lebanon wars

HRW urges immediate action on incendiary weapons amid Gaza, Lebanon wars
Updated 11 min 22 sec ago
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HRW urges immediate action on incendiary weapons amid Gaza, Lebanon wars

HRW urges immediate action on incendiary weapons amid Gaza, Lebanon wars
  • Weaponry ‘among cruelest in modern warfare’: Human Rights Watch
  • ‘A complete ban on incendiary weapons would undoubtedly have the greatest humanitarian benefits’

LONDON:Countries must work to prohibit the use of incendiary weapons amid growing evidence of their harm on civilians in Gaza and Lebanon, Human Rights Watch has said.

The organization released a 28-page report examining the recent use of the weaponry, which can inflict “excruciating burns, respiratory damage and psychological trauma.”

The report draws on HRW interviews with survivors of incendiary weapons, medical professionals and members of civil society.

It comes ahead of a UN meeting in Geneva next week of states party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

HRW urged those countries to condemn the use of incendiary weapons and commit to redressing two loopholes in the treaty’s Protocol III that undermine the protection of civilians.

Since October 2023, Israel has widely deployed airburst and ground-launched white phosphorus munitions in populated areas of Gaza and Lebanon, photographic evidence has shown.

Bonnie Docherty, senior arms adviser at HRW, said: “Incendiary weapons are being used in several conflicts, endangering civilian lives and livelihoods.

“Governments need to take immediate action to protect civilians, civilian infrastructure and the environment from the horrific effects of these weapons.”

HRW described incendiary munitions as “among the cruelest weapons in modern warfare.” As well as harming people, the weapons also cause socioeconomic and environmental damage by burning homes and crops, it said.

Israel has used white phosphorus munitions, a type of incendiary weapon, in at least 17 Lebanese municipalities, including five cases of illegally deployed airburst weapons over southern Lebanon, between October 2023 and June this year.

CCW Protocol III, signed by 117 countries, contains loopholes permitting white phosphorus and features weaker regulations for ground-launched munitions than air-launched weaponry, HRW said.

Hundreds of Lebanese civilians have been displaced following Israeli white phosphorus attacks, with survivors suffering respiratory damage months after exposure.

Lebanese olive groves, a crucial source of income for many, have also come under attack, with white phosphorus able to start wildfires and cause long-term damage to soil quality.

Internationally, pressure has mounted in recent years to address the proliferation of incendiary weapons.

At the most recent CCW meeting last November, more than 100 countries condemned the humanitarian consequences of the weaponry.

HRW urged countries at next week’s Geneva meeting to “initiate informal consultations” that address the loopholes in Protocol III.

Docherty said: “Governments should seize the moment to reiterate their concerns about incendiary weapons and discuss ways to strengthen the law to better protect civilians.

“A complete ban on incendiary weapons would undoubtedly have the greatest humanitarian benefits.”


Israel must comply with ICJ measures to prevent genocide: UN human rights chief

Israel must comply with ICJ measures to prevent genocide: UN human rights chief
Updated 4 min 11 sec ago
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Israel must comply with ICJ measures to prevent genocide: UN human rights chief

Israel must comply with ICJ measures to prevent genocide: UN human rights chief
  • Volker Turk’s office publishes report covering violations between November 2023, April 2024
  • UN Human Rights Office: Almost 70% of fatalities in Gaza are children, women

NEW YORK: The UN high commissioner for human rights on Friday called on Israel to “fully and immediately” comply with the provisional measures issued in January by the International Court of Justice demanding action to prevent a genocide from being perpetrated against the Palestinians.

Volker Turk also called on states to honor their obligations under international law and “assess arms sales or transfers and provision of military, logistical or financial support to a party to the conflict, with a view to ending such support if this risks serious violations of international law.”

His warning comes as a new report by his office, published on Friday, warned that “if committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, (Israel’s violations) may constitute genocide.”

In January, after considering an original case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide, the ICJ issued a ruling that included provisional measures ordering Israel to take action to prevent and punish the commission of, or the incitement to commit, genocide; to halt the indiscriminate killing of Palestinians; and to immediately facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.

Turk said Israel’s compliance with the ICJ ruling is now “even more critical and urgent” in light of the new report, which details “the horrific reality that has unfolded for the people of Israel and Gaza since 7 October 2023,” and concludes by demanding justice with respect to the grave violations of international law that have been committed.

The ICJ measures are also more pertinent than ever given the most recent events, Turk said, including Israel’s operations in northern Gaza and its adoption of legislation banning the main UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees from operating in Israel and occupied East Jerusalem.

“It is essential that there is due reckoning with respect to the allegations of serious violations of international law through credible and impartial judicial bodies and that, in the meantime, all relevant information and evidence are collected and preserved,” said Turk.

The new report covers violations that occurred from November 2023 to April 2024, including the killing of civilians and breaches of international law that it said could amount to war crimes.

“If committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population, further to a State or organizational policy, these violations may constitute crimes against humanity,” the report says.

Turk urged support for the work of accountability mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court, in relation to the conflict in Gaza, for the exercise of universal jurisdiction to investigate and try crimes under international law in national courts, and for compliance with extradition requests of suspects of such crimes to countries where they would receive a fair trial.

The report highlights repeated statements from Israeli officials calling for Gaza’s entire destruction and the exodus of its people.

It documents Israel’s efforts to “rationalize discrimination, hostility and violence towards, and even the elimination of, Palestinians.”

The report underscores how civilians have borne the brunt of the attacks, including through the initial “complete siege” of Gaza, as well as Israel’s continuing “unlawful failures” to allow the entry of humanitarian aid, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and mass displacement of Palestinians.

“This conduct by Israeli Forces has caused unprecedented levels of killings, death, injury, starvation, illness and disease,” the reports says, adding that Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups have also committed serious violations of international law on a wide scale

“The rules of war, in force now for 160 years, were designed to limit and prevent human suffering in times of armed conflict,” Turk said.

“Their wanton disregard has led to the current extremes of human suffering which we continue to see today.

“It seems inconceivable that the parties to the conflict refuse to apply universally accepted and binding norms developed to preserve the very bare minimum of humanity.”  

The UN Human Rights Office says close to 70 percent of fatalities in Gaza are children and women, indicating “a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, including distinction and proportionality.”

The continuation of these attacks “demonstrates an apparent indifference to the death of civilians and the impact of the means and methods of warfare selected,” the report states. 

It also raises concerns over the forcible transfer of Palestinians, attacks on hospitals in “apparent systematic fashion” as well as journalists, and the reported use of white phosphorus munitions.

“Our monitoring indicates that this unprecedented level of killing, and injury of civilians is a direct consequence of the failure to comply with fundamental principles of international humanitarian law — namely the principles of distinction, proportionality and precautions in attack,” Turk said. 

“Tragically, these documented patterns of violations continue unabated, over one year after the start of the war.

“The trends and patterns of violations, and of applicable international law as clarified by the International Court of Justice, must inform the steps to be taken to end the current crisis,” he added.

“The violence must stop immediately, the hostages and those arbitrarily detained must be released, and we must focus on flooding Gaza with humanitarian aid.” 


Lebanon state media says Israel blows up houses in 3 border villages

Lebanon state media says Israel blows up houses in 3 border villages
Updated 08 November 2024
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Lebanon state media says Israel blows up houses in 3 border villages

Lebanon state media says Israel blows up houses in 3 border villages
  • ‘Since this morning, the Israeli enemy’s army has been carrying out bombing operations inside the villages of Yaroun, Aitaroun and Maroun Al-Ras in the Bint Jbeil area’

BEIRUT: Lebanon state media said the Israeli army on Friday detonated explosives planted inside houses in three border villages that have been battered by the Israel-Hezbollah war.
“Since this morning, the Israeli enemy’s army has been carrying out bombing operations inside the villages of Yaroun, Aitaroun and Maroun Al-Ras in the Bint Jbeil area, with the aim of destroying residential homes there,” the official National News Agency said, the latest in a string of similar incidents that have impacted the flashpoint border area.


Suffering in Gaza ‘almost unparalleled’: Humanitarian chief

Suffering in Gaza ‘almost unparalleled’: Humanitarian chief
Updated 08 November 2024
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Suffering in Gaza ‘almost unparalleled’: Humanitarian chief

Suffering in Gaza ‘almost unparalleled’: Humanitarian chief
  • Norwegian Refugee Council secretary-general: Palestinians pushed ‘beyond breaking point’
  • Jan Egeland: Gaza rendered ‘uninhabitable’ due Israel’s policies

LONDON: Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are experiencing “almost unparalleled” suffering, one of the world’s foremost humanitarian officials has warned following a visit to the enclave, The Guardian reported on Friday.

Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, traveled to Gaza this week, reporting that families, widows and children have been pushed “beyond breaking point” by Israel’s year-long war.

He witnessed “scene after scene of absolute despair” as Palestinian families had been torn apart by attacks, with survivors unable to bury their dead relatives.

Gaza has been rendered “uninhabitable” as a result of Israel’s policies, supported by Western-supplied weaponry, Egeland said.

“This is in no way a lawful response, a targeted operation of ‘self-defence’ to dismantle armed groups, or warfare consistent with humanitarian law,” he added.

“The families, widows and children I have spoken to are enduring suffering almost unparalleled to anywhere in recent history. There is no possible justification for continued war and destruction.”

Since last year, families across the enclave have been repeatedly forced to move from one area to another as a result of Israeli evacuation orders, which now cover 80 percent of Gaza.

The situation is even more dire in northern Gaza, where a month-long Israeli offensive and siege have cut off an estimated 100,000 people from humanitarian aid.

An Israeli brigadier general said this week that there is no intention of allowing the return of Palestinians to their homes in northern Gaza.

Such a policy of forcible transfer would amount to war crimes, humanitarian law experts have said.

As aid continues to be cut off from the Palestinian population, the UN has condemned “unlawful interference with humanitarian assistance and orders that are leading to forced displacement.”

Egeland warned of the “catastrophic impact of strangled aid flows” on the Palestinian population, with people left unable to access food or water for days at a time.

The former Norwegian foreign minister and diplomat said: “There has not been a single week since the start of this war when sufficient aid was delivered in Gaza.”

Despite the acute shortage of humanitarian aid, Israel’s parliament this week passed bills banning the UN Relief & Works Agency from operating in the Occupied Territories, designating it as a terrorist organization.

Egeland called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza to prevent the “deadly” situation from worsening, adding: “Those in power on all sides act with impunity, while millions across Gaza and the region pay a terrible price.

“Humanitarians can speak out on what we are seeing, but only those in power can end this nightmare.”