United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher has asked Israel to provide evidence backing its claim that staff with the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) are linked to Hamas.
At a U.N. Security Council meeting on Wednesday, Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon said Fletcher and OCHA were no longer neutral, announcing that hundreds of OCHA employees would undergo security vetting and that staff visas would be restricted to one month.
“Israel has uncovered clear evidence of Hamas affiliation within OCHA’s ranks,” Danon told the 15-member council, without presenting proof.
In a letter to the council on Thursday, Fletcher called the accusations “extremely serious” and said this was the first time Israel had raised such concerns.
“I expect the Israeli authorities to immediately share any evidence that led them to make such claims,” he wrote.
Fletcher said OCHA engages with all sides in conflicts to secure humanitarian access and protect civilians, noting that contacts with Hamas had helped secure hostage releases.
Israel says it is committed to aiding civilians but “will not work with organizations that have chosen politics over principles,” Danon said.
“We must hold all parties to the standards of international law,” Fletcher wrote. “We do not choose between demanding the end to the starvation of civilians in Gaza and demanding the unconditional release of all the hostages.”
Israel, which controls supplies entering Gaza, denies responsibility for food shortages.
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran are escalating, with Washington ordering a significant military build-up in the region and multiple countries evacu...
Two people were killed and around 40 injured when a tram derailed in central Milan on Friday (27 Februrary), a spokesperson for local firefighters sai...
Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), issued a statement on Friday (27 February) calling on Ankara to ...
Colombia’s commerce minister, Diana Marcela Morales, has said she will propose raising tariffs on certain Ecuadorian goods from 30% to 50%, as a tra...
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said on Friday (27 February) that he had no knowledge of the crimes committed by Jeffrey Epstein and would not have...
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran are escalating, with Washington ordering a significant military build-up in the region and multiple countries evacuating diplomatic staff amid fears of further instability.
Speaking during a closed-door deposition in New York on Thursday (February), former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she did not “recall” ever meeting the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and had “no knowledge of his crimes”.
Pakistan’s declaration of an “open war” with Afghanistan must be understood in the context of months of escalating violence, regional analysts have said, describing the latest developments as a significant shift in the nature of the conflict.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday urged Afghanistan and Pakistan to resolve their differences through dialogue, offering Tehran’s assistance to facilitate understanding between its eastern neighbours.
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran are escalating, with Washington ordering a significant military build-up in the region and multiple countries evacuating diplomatic staff amid fears of further instability.
The death toll from heavy rains and flooding in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state has risen to 46, authorities said, with 21 people still reported missing. The storms triggered landslides and widespread flooding, displacing thousands across Juiz de Fora and Uba.
The situation in Cuba was heating up and called for restraint following a deadly incident involving a Florida-registered speedboat off the coast of the Caribbean island, the Kremlin said on Thursday (26 February).
Venezuela’s Attorney General Tarek William Saab and Ombudsman Alfredo Ruiz tendered their resignations to the National Assembly on Wednesday. Neither official has publicly provided reasons for stepping down.
Pakistani air strikes hit a weapons depot on the western outskirts of Kabul overnight, triggering hours of secondary explosions that rattled homes across the Afghan capital and left residents fearing further violence.
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran are escalating, with Washington ordering a significant military build-up in the region and multiple countries evacuating diplomatic staff amid fears of further instability.
Two people were killed and around 40 injured when a tram derailed in central Milan on Friday (27 Februrary), a spokesperson for local firefighters said.
Colombia’s commerce minister, Diana Marcela Morales, has said she will propose raising tariffs on certain Ecuadorian goods from 30% to 50%, as a trade dispute between the neighbouring countries intensifies.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said on Friday (27 February) that he had no knowledge of the crimes committed by Jeffrey Epstein and would not have flown on the late convicted sex offender’s plane had he had any inkling of his activities.
Some of Iran's most highly enriched uranium, close to weapons grade, was stored in an underground area of its nuclear site in Isfahan, the UN nuclear watchdog said in a confidential report sent to member states on Friday (27 February).
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment