[UNRWA Commissioner Karen Abu Zayd] said Israel has closed down the Karni crossing, the main gateway for cargo into Gaza where it is normally delivered, for security reasons.She of course knows very well that mortar fire on the crossings is very common, and sometimes fatal. Yet she airily downplayed Israel's security concerns as not being nearly important enough to stop giving aid to Gazans.She said UNRWA was told by the Israeli humanitarian coordinator that all other crossings aren't open because "there is intelligence about serious preparations for security operations."
"We wonder if it's serious enough to really keep things completely closed and to keep people on their edge of subsistence," she said.
Today, the UN is singing a different tune, in the wake of the death of a UN driver under unclear circumstances:
As a result of the incident, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said it was suspending operations relating to the collection and distribution of humanitarian aid.You mean, the possibility of being shot at can cause the UNRWA to stop delivering all humanitarian aid? What about the starving, bleeding, imprisoned Gazans that the UNRWA wants Israelis to give their lives for? Aren't they more important?
But here, too, there seemed to be confusion.
Richard Miron, the chief UN spokesman in Israel, told the Post that UNRWA was not suspending all of its operations, but just those relating to humanitarian aid.
"It's too dangerous and our staff are not safe," he said, adding that UNRWA would still be operating its schools and other centers in Gaza.
Of course not. To the UNRWA, the value of Israeli lives is literally zero, the value of Gazans is somewhat higher, and the value of UNRWA personnel is at the peak, according to their own statements.
(h/t L. King)