GENEVA, May 27 (Xinhua) -- An aid organization backed by the United States and Israel to distribute relief supplies in Gaza is distracting attention from what is actually needed, a United Nations spokesperson said here on Tuesday.
Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said at a press briefing that the UN is not involved in the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's (GHF) operations in Gaza, and added that "it is a distraction from what is actually needed."
Laerke said what is truly needed is the reopening of all crossing points into Gaza. He also called for the establishment of a secure environment in Gaza and urged faster facilitation of permissions and final approvals for all emergency supplies awaiting entry into Gaza.
Juliette Touma, spokesperson for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), also told reporters that she was unaware whether the GHF had delivered any supplies. "We don't have any information," she said.
According to the GHF, a humanitarian distribution plan proposed by Israel and supported by the United States is being implemented.
Under the plan, private entities are tasked with delivering aid to several so-called "safe distribution sites" in southern Gaza. UN agencies and long-established humanitarian organizations operating in Palestine have been excluded from this process.
UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher has recently criticized the Israeli-designed distribution scheme, saying it makes humanitarian aid conditional on political and military objectives and uses starvation as a bargaining chip. ■
