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Israel is majorly restricting visas for UN humanitarian affairs workers seeking entry into Gaza, seemingly in attempts to deepen the humanitarian catastrophe there, after effectively barring the top humanitarian official for the region from entering this weekend.
On Sunday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that they will not renew the visa of Jonathan Whittall, the head of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) for the occupied Palestinian territories. Whittall is being forced to leave Israel by July 29, as a result of his criticism of Israel amid its genocide in Gaza.
Israel’s envoy to the United Nations, Danny Danon, also told the UN Security Council that Israel will no longer auto-renew visas for international OCHA staff to work in Gaza. Instead, authorities will only be renewing visas on a one-month basis, with OCHA staff forced to undergo “security vetting.”
OCHA is crucial for coordinating and monitoring humanitarian efforts within Gaza, and the agency regularly provides updates on the humanitarian situation in Palestine. These updates serve as an important record of Israel’s genocide, documenting Israeli strikes and providing details on Israel’s starvation and deprivation campaign.
This comes after Israel has already been working to phase out humanitarian groups from Gaza for months, denying visas and imposing restrictions for UN workers and those who work with UN groups.
The restrictions will allow Israel to obfuscate its starvation and extermination campaign even more, with starvation deaths spiking this week after months of a near-total blockade and regular food line executions by the Israeli military.
A spokesperson for OCHA said that Israel is seeking to censor the agency after it’s spoken out against the horrific famine conditions that Israel has imposed on Palestinians in Gaza. The The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has been barred from Gaza since March 2024 and from the occupied West Bank since June 2024.
The visa restriction notification “came immediately after remarks in a press briefing about starving people being killed while trying to reach food,” said spokesperson Eri Kaneko, per The Washington Post.
“Speaking about conditions on the ground is part of OCHA’s mandate,” Kaneko said. “Attempts to silence us are not new, but threats of reduced access to the civilians we’re trying to serve are intensifying.”
Indeed, Israel has fought the UN for years. The UN’s humanitarian arms have provided Palestinians with aid like water and food for decades, while numerous legal bodies have uncovered evidence of countless Israeli human rights violations throughout the genocide and before.
Israel’s legislature passed legislation banning UNRWA from operating in the occupied Palestinian territories late last year. UNRWA provides crucial, lifesaving services for Palestinians, acting as a lifeline for Palestinians in Gaza and providing education across hundreds of facilities for Palestinian children.
Israel has barred UNRWA workers from entering Gaza for six months now, according to UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini.
“As if banning international media is not enough. Humanitarian workers are also banned when they report on atrocities committed in Gaza and elsewhere in the occupied Palestinian territory. The denial of a visa to our colleague from OCHA oPt [occupied Palestinian territories] [occupied Palestinian territories] is the latest in a pattern of restrictions,” Lazzarini said on Monday.
“Visas must be granted to humanitarian staff to support the work of their Palestinian colleagues,” Lazzarini went on. “Coupled with the ongoing ban of international media to enter Gaza, these visa denials are deepening the spread of dis-information and increasing de-humanization of the people in Gaza.”
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