FALCON POWERS – Philip Lazareny, the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), spoke about “trucks transporting bodies and detainees from Israel to Gaza” through the Kerem Shalom crossing, stating that it hinders the arrival of aid.
The worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza has increased pressure on Israel to enhance supplies to the region in order to prevent the spread of diseases among the 1.7 million people displaced due to Israel’s war and alleviate the burden of hunger, amid warnings from the United Nations of the possibility of famine in the Gaza Strip.
Lazareny told reporters on Tuesday that aid supplies to Gaza had seen improvement in April, but he listed a series of difficulties, including the repeated closure of crossings because Israelis “dispose of released detainees or sometimes throw bodies that are transported to Israel back into the Gaza Strip.” In response to a request for further details, UNRWA spokesperson Juliette Toma stated that Israel sent 225 bodies to Gaza in three containers since December, which the agency transferred to local health authorities for burial, leading to the temporary closure of the crossing.
The spokesperson did not provide details about the circumstances of their deaths and stated that the investigation is not within UNRWA’s jurisdiction. Regarding the transportation of detainees, which Reuters previously reported on, Toma stated that they had been transported between Israel and Gaza “dozens of times.”
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli military body responsible for aid distribution in the Palestinian territories, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for the Israeli diplomatic mission in Geneva referred questions regarding the transportation operations to Jerusalem.
Regarding aid delivery, the Israeli spokesperson said, “Lazareny is trying to evade UNRWA’s failures and responsibilities. Once again today, there was a buildup of over 150 trucks that Israel examined at Kerem Shalom but were not accepted by United Nations agencies.”
