{"id":56351,"date":"2025-05-01T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/israel-must-end-cruel-collective-punishment-in-gaza-urges-un-relief-chief\/"},"modified":"2025-05-01T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T12:00:00","slug":"israel-must-end-cruel-collective-punishment-in-gaza-urges-un-relief-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/?p=56351","title":{"rendered":"Israel must end \u2018cruel collective punishment\u2019 in Gaza, urges UN relief chief"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>In a powerful statement on Thursday, Tom Fletcher, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, condemned Israel\u2019s decision to halt humanitarian assistance as a \u201ccruel collective punishment\u201d of the Palestinian population.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTwo months ago, the Israeli authorities took a deliberate decision to block all aid to Gaza and halt our efforts to save survivors of their military offensive,\u201d said Mr Fletcher. \u201cThey have been bracingly honest that this policy is to pressurise Hamas.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>\u2018Blocking aid kills\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>While reaffirming the urgent need for the release of hostages taken by Hamas on 7 October 2023 \u2013 who \u201cshould never have been taken from their families,\u201d \u2013 the UN relief chief stressed that \u201c<strong>international law is unequivocal: As the occupying power, Israel must allow humanitarian support in<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<strong>Aid, and the civilian lives it saves, should never be a bargaining chip<\/strong>,\u201d he added. \u201cBlocking aid kills.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr Fletcher warned that the aid blockade \u201cstarves civilians\u201d, denies them basic medical services, and \u201cstrips them of dignity and hope.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He underscored the neutrality and impartiality of humanitarian efforts, adding: \u201cWe believe that all civilians are equally worthy of protection. <strong>We remain ready to save as many lives as we can, despite the risks<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Let us save lives<\/h2>\n<p>However, the latest delivery mechanism proposed by Israel, he said, \u201cdoes not meet the minimum bar for principled humanitarian support.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo the Israeli authorities, and those who can still reason with them, we say again: <strong>lift this brutal blockade. Let humanitarians save lives<\/strong>,\u201d he pleaded.<\/p>\n<p>Addressing civilians in Gaza, Mr Fletcher said: \u201cNo apology can suffice\u2026 But I am truly sorry that we are unable to move the international community to prevent this injustice. <strong>We won\u2019t give up<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<h5><em>More to follow\u2026<\/em><\/h5>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/feed\/view\/en\/story\/2025\/05\/1162806\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a powerful statement on Thursday, Tom Fletcher, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, condemned Israel\u2019s decision&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":56353,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[367,3096,6265,190,389,2763,1473,745],"class_list":["post-56351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east","tag-chief","tag-collective","tag-cruel","tag-gaza","tag-israel","tag-punishment","tag-relief","tag-urges"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.0 (Yoast SEO v28.5) - 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