UN accuses 'Israel' of blocking majority of humanitarian requests
4 Min Read
The UN says "Israel" blocked 11 of 18 humanitarian coordination requests in Gaza, including efforts to deliver water, fuel, and conduct rescue operations.
-
Palestinians line up for food during the ongoing Israeli genocidal war and systematic famine policy on the Gaza Strip in Rafah, occupied Palestine, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024 (AP)
The United Nations has revealed that Israeli authorities rejected 11 out of 18 recent humanitarian coordination requests in the Gaza Strip, exacerbating what it described as a deepening humanitarian disaster.
Speaking at a news briefing on Tuesday, UN spokesperson Farhan Haq stated that "Israeli authorities continue to deny many humanitarian movements within the Strip to provide whatever limited services are available to the population." Denied requests included attempts to deliver water, retrieve fuel, conduct a rescue mission in Khan Younis, and repair war-damaged roads.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than two million Palestinians in Gaza are being denied basic necessities due to ongoing Israeli military operations and persistent obstruction of aid.
“In northern Gaza, Israeli military operations have intensified in recent days, with mass casualties reported,” Haq added. “Hungry and displaced people have also reportedly been killed while risking their lives to access food at militarized distribution hubs.”
US-backed aid scheme bypassing UN draws sharp criticism
Since May 27, the Israeli occupation has promoted a new Gaza aid initiative via the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which is supported by both "Israel" and the United States.
The model bypasses UN coordination and has drawn strong condemnation from Palestinian communities and humanitarian agencies, who view it as an attempt to forcibly displace civilians from northern to southern Gaza.
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) labeled the alternative aid distribution system as “humiliating” and fundamentally incapable of addressing widespread hunger.
"#Gaza, another day of aid distribution another day of death traps. Day after day, casualties & scores of injured are reported at distribution points manned by Israel & private security companies,” UNRWA said in a statement.
"Gaza, another day of aid distribution another day of death traps.
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) June 10, 2025
Day after day, casualties and scores of injured are reported at distribution points manned by Israel and private security companies.
This humiliating system continues to force thousands of hungry and desperate… pic.twitter.com/znevndAIHr
On Tuesday morning, 36 Palestinians were killed and 208 were injured after Israeli forces opened fire on people waiting for food near the Netzarim corridor, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
UNRWA: The aid model excludes the most vulnerable
UNRWA sharply criticized the new system, saying it forces desperate civilians, including the elderly, children, and the disabled, to walk for miles, excluding “the most vulnerable and those living too far.” The agency added, “This system does not intend to address hunger.”
Instead, UNRWA insisted that food distribution must be “at scale and safe,” stressing that only the UN and its partners have the capacity, local trust, and infrastructure to handle such a massive operation effectively. “We have the expertise, the knowledge, and community trust,” it said.
UNRWA also warned that without an immediate lifting of the blockade and full access to deliver aid, mass starvation among Gaza’s population, particularly among its one million children, was inevitable. The agency said it currently holds 6,000 truckloads of aid in warehouses outside Gaza, supplies that risk expiring unless entry is permitted soon.
“Letting food rot and medicine deliberately expire would simply be obscene,” the agency warned.
Blockade, ceasefire rejection worsen crisis
Nearly the entire population of Gaza is facing famine due to "Israel's" aid blockade, collapsing health services, and the deliberate obstruction of food and medical supplies. As of May, at least 57 Palestinian children had died from the effects of malnutrition since the Israeli aid blockade had begun on March 2, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Since October 2023, Israeli forces have waged an unrelenting military campaign on Gaza, killing nearly 55,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Security Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. In parallel, the International Court of Justice is reviewing a genocide case against "Israel" over its actions in Gaza.
As pressure mounts from UN agencies and rights groups, the humanitarian crisis continues to escalate, with civilians bearing the brunt of denied aid, shattered infrastructure, and a collapsed food distribution system that many now call engineered neglect.
