Over the past year UN aid convoys in Gaza have faced dangerous situations‚ with Israeli troops firing on them multiple times. These incidents have put UN staff at risk and damaged vehicles‚ showing the difficult conditions for humanitarian work in the area.
One notable event happened roughly a year ago when Israeli soldiers held a UN convoy at gunpoint for about 7 hours‚ accusing the staff of being terrorists. A UN worker (who didnt want to be named) said‚ “They basically surrounded our vehicles pointing assault rifles at our cars‚ and they were shouting that were terrorists“
The situation shows the lack-of-trust between Israeli soldiers and aid workers at checkpoints. Soldiers have a lot of power and dont seem to face consequences for their actions which makes it hard for humanitarian workers to do their job.
The US government has been pushing Israel to make things better for people in Gaza. Theyʼve warned that they might stop giving military help if aid doesnt improve soon.
Gaza has become a very dangerous place for aid workers. The UN says more than 280 of its staff have died because of Israeli attacks. Some were killed with US weapons according to aid groups.
Israel and the UN have had problems for a long time but things have gotten worse since Hamas attacked Israel about a year ago. Israeli officials have said that UNRWA (the UN agency for Palestinian refugees) works with Hamas. UNRWA fired some workers after looking into these claims‚ but says Israel is trying to make them look bad.
Our colleagues risk their lives to save others and too often come under fire
The process for aid convoys to move around Gaza is complicated. They need approval from COGAT (part of Israels Defense Ministry) and have to wait for green lights at checkpoints. Often there are problems with communication between COGAT and soldiers on the ground.
There have been several attacks on UN convoys. In one case‚ UNICEF vehicles were shot at while trying to reunite children with their father. Another time‚ a World Food Program vehicle was hit by gunfire 10 times.
The Israeli army says its trying to make things better by giving satellite phones to aid convoys and setting up a place to handle communications in Gaza. But aid workers say they still face many dangers and difficulties while trying to help people in need