Sunday, March 17, 2024, Member of Knesset Sharren Haskel held a meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem with experts who came in to discuss alternative scenarios for getting humanitarian aid to Gaza with a special emphasis on what should become of UNRWA.
Speakers:
- Rosa Freedman, Professor of Law, Conflict and Global Development at the University of Reading. Her research and published works focus on the UN and Human Rights.
- Ophelie Namiech, Senior advisor to UN agencies and humanitarian NGO’s. She has worked for 17 years in the field of humanitarian action and supported more than 80 NGO’s.
- James G Lindsay. Lindsay served as UNRWAs General Counsel and Legal Advisor with UNRWA between 2000 and 2007. He also served with the US Department of Justice as a Prosecutor in Washington and Miami and with the Multinational Force and Observers in Sinai Egypt. He then became their general counsel in 2010.
Sunday Member of Knesset Sharren Haskel held a meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem with experts who came in to discuss alternative scenarios for humanitarian aid to Gaza. I expected to come out of the meeting with some new ideas, but what I really took away was a pro and con list about what to do with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees…also known as UNRWA. I thought people might be proposing new methods of physical transport to get boxes into the strip … or the creation of new organizations, but no new ideas were presented. Some experts called for dismantling UNRWA, some discussed using the existing organizational infrastructure and local employees and simply trying to improve it and one man who was general counsel for UNRWA said that it should simply be dismantled.
According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, northern Gaza is very close to famine. Aid workers say there’s desperation and violence throughout the population. I have seen reports that Hamas have taken the international aid shipment and are actually selling the food supply in the Rafah market. NPR put out a detailed list of issues going on that are causing trouble when it comes to aid distribution.
Israel is checking aid convoys for security purposes and this is slowing down the process of getting aid into Gaza.
UNRWA which is the organization under fire for having its employees participate in the october 7th massacre in Israel, is working to distribute flour to families and according to NPR reporting, its been done respectfully and without people rushing the schools and distribution sites where they are operating.
NPR also reports that Israel’s army has been killing local Gazan police officers who they claim are Hamas operatives.
Because Hamas is not a governmental organization for the people of Gaza there are also issues. Hamas is being criticized and accused by Gazans and Israelis of taking aid and selling it back to the people. In an effort to circumvent that, there has been a couple of different independent bodies operating. This includes The United Nations’ humanitarian coordinator for Gaza, Jamie McGoldrick, who explains the new order – in which the UN is working with community leaders or clan leaders. You see, it is widely understood that the palestinian people are often segmented based on large clans or families and some of them are quite prominent and have influence in Gaza and in the west bank too. Due to a lack of governing, some of these family leaders in Gaza have stepped up to the plate and are working independently to administer the aid. While McGoldrick says he and his team are taking this communal route, he has made it clear that it is to be done without fire-arms in the mix.
Meanwhile a group called the Home Front in Gaza are working with arms to protect trucks entering Gaza with supplies and making sure that the trucks make it to their destination without lotting.
To make everything a little more tense – Hamas has been threatening Palestinian clans in Gaza against working with Israelis. Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel has put out a suggested plan for in which ”local figures with administrative experience” would operate things in Gaza. This is the alternative to having Hamas or the Palestinian Authority do it. The United States wants the Palestinian authority to step in and run Gaza but Israel, having been working with th Palestinian authority for a long time, have a number of justified reservations – so they are not trying to accept that plan. Hamas is telling the people that Israel wants clan leaders to rise to power so that Palestinians will not be able to unite.
While organizations say that Gaza must be flooded with aid to address the issue, Israel is having trouble as the aid conveys are dealing with armed looters and desperate civilians raiding aid trucks before the trucks can reach their destinations.
Israel is now pushing for a sea route to deliver aid to northern Gaza. The swarms of Gazans surrounding aid trucks has been proven to be dangerous as well, many getting injured or even killed in mobs. The last incident saw some 115 people killed. Israel said they fired when sensing danger from a mob rushing the trucks. The international media was quick to blame the israelis who were watching over the convoy.
The Israeli Defense Forces deny shooting at civilians unless directly threatened.
Delivering aid to Gaza requires coordination. The Israeli Defense Ministry called Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, or COGAT, must work with local Gazan communities to secure the safest possible arrival of deliveries in such a dangerous environment. The IDF does not escort most deliveries though, as many organizations avoid working directly with the IDF in an effort to maintain neutrality.
Let’s begin with Rosa Freedman who is going to set us up to understand the current state. She spoke clearly about UNRWA as an organization, their intentions and their track record of efficiency and effectiveness. Freedman is a professor of law, conflict and global development at the university of reading. Her research is focused on the UN and human rights and she publishes on this topic regularly.
To contrast the negatives we just learned about UNRWA with Profesor Freedman, lets now switch to Ophelie Namiech who is a senior advisor to UN agencies and humanitarian NGO’s. She has worked for 17 years in the field of humanitarian action and supported more than 80 NGO’s. She was an advocate for keeping UNRWA in place but improving it.
And lastly, a strong speaker who had a bit of a scoop on UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, James G Lindsay. Lindsay served as UNRWAs general counsel and legal advisor with UNRWA between 2000 and 2007. He also served with the US Department of Justice as a prosecutor in washington and miami and with the multinational force and observers in Sinai egypt. He then became their general counsel in 2010. He was tough on UNRWA as an organization and ultimately proposed closing it.
One interesting take-away that we heard Sunday was the idea that UNRWA has a strong symbolism for Palestinians and dismantling it seems to them like a direct hit to them. At the end of the event, Member of Knesset Simcha Rothman came in. He doubled down on expressing that UNRWA is simply the civilian arm of Hamas.
Listen to their full remarks in the podcast.
Discussion about this post