GAZA CITY, Gaza – On January 8, United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the main UN aid agency in Gaza, announced that it was suspending its operations after an Israeli strike killed two workers. An Israel tank shell killed two Palestinians forklift drivers in a UN aid convoy.
“UNRWA decided to suspend all its operations in the Gaza Strip because of the increasing hostile actions against its premises and personnel,” Adnan Abu Hasna, UNRWA’s Gaza-based spokesman, said. The suspension would continue “until the Israeli authorities can guarantee our safety and security”, said UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness.
“Our installations have been hit, our workers have been killed in spite of the fact that the Israeli authorities have the coordinates of our facilities and that all our movements are coordinated with the Israeli army.”
Elena Mancusi Materi, UNRWA’s spokeswoman in Geneva, said the suspension concerned all truck movement in Gaza. However, “If someone comes to one of our food distribution centers, we will give that person food. If people come to our clinics with injuries, we will treat them.”
For the second straight day, Israel suspended its Gaza operations for three hours to allow humanitarian aid to enter the besieged territory. The UN said that an aid convoy at the Erez crossing came under fire just prior to when the cease was to take place.
The Israeli military has not commented on the claim, but stated that it was investigating the incident.
For more information, please see:
BBC – UN Suspends Gaza Aid Operations – 8 January 2009
Financial Times – UN Suspends Gaza Operations – 8 January 2009
Houston Chronicle – UN Halts Aid Shipments, Cites Israeli Attacks – 8 January 2009
Jerusalem Post – UN Halts Aid Shipments to Gaza After Truck Driver Shot Dead – 8 January 2009
Radio Netherlands – UN Relief Agency Forced to Halt Work in Gaza – 8 January 2009
Reuters – UN Agency Halts Gaza Operations Over Israeli Fire – 8 January 2009
Times – UN Aid Agency Suspends Work After Gaza Strike – 8 January 2009
