Israel has denied visas to the United Nations staff due to the global organization’s criticism of the regime’s targeting of civilians and hospitals in Gaza.
Media reports said Israel will not renew the visa of a United Nations staff member and will deny the visa request of another UN employee.
“We will stop working with those who cooperate with the Hamas organization’s propaganda,” said Eli Cohen, Israel’s minister of foreign affairs, on X on Monday.
Cohen described the UN’s conduct as “a disgrace” since Israel launched its bombardment of the besieged Palestinian territory on October 7.
The latest incident is only one in a series of instances of Israel clashing with the UN over Gaza.
Israel recently announced its decision to revoke the residence visa of Lynn Hastings, the UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, who left last week.
Hastings had censured Israeli restrictions on much-needed aid deliveries. “The conditions required to deliver aid to the people of Gaza do not exist,” she said on December 4.
“If possible, an even more hellish scenario is about to unfold, one in which humanitarian operations may not be able to respond,” she said, referring to the resumption of Israel’s bombardment on Gaza at the end of a one-week pause.
More than 100 journalists, about 270 medical personnel and at least 134 UN staff have been killed in Israeli strikes since October 7.
The UN, aid groups and rights organizations have warned the Palestinians are facing hunger.
Israel has justified attacks on UN schools, universities and hospitals, saying they were used by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas. The regime has provided no proof for its claims.
Media reports have also debunked Israeli claims that Hamas ran a command center under Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest medical facility, which was crippled by Israeli shelling.
Elsewhere in his remarks on Monday, the Israeli foreign minister accused the UN chief, the UN human rights commissioner and the UN women agency.
The UN agencies and human rights organizations have Israel under fire for the “collective punishment” of Gaza’s 2.3 million people.
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has repeatedly warned aid work in Gaza is at a breaking point.
Since the war began, more than 100 UNRWA staff have been killed and over 40 of the agency’s buildings in Gaza have been damaged in Israeli strikes.
Israel has also repeatedly targeted Francesca Albanese, the UN’s special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, who has criticized the regime for violating international law.
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has also been attacked for what Israel said was publishing inaccurate reports. Israel has not provided proof for its claims.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has repeatedly called for a ceasefire and decried the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The UN chief has invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter, a move aimed at formally warning the Security Council of a global threat posed by Israel’s barbarism.
The UN General Assembly has gone to great lengths for a humanitarian ceasefire, but votes at the UN Security Council have been vetoed and stalled by Israel’s great benefactor the United States.
It’s been 80 days since Israel launched its onslaught on Gaza. Bodies of more than 8,000 Palestinians are missing in Gaza as the death toll has surpassed the 20,000 mark.
