GENEVA, May 27, 2025 (WAFA) – The Israeli aid distribution plan, known as the Gaza Humanitarian Fund, is a 'distraction' from what is needed, a United Nations spokesperson said on Tuesday.
“As we have explained many times, we do not participate in this modality for the reasons that we have given. It is a distraction from what is actually needed,” Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told reporters in Geneva.
He stressed the immediate need to reopen all the crossings into Gaza, ensuring a secure environment within Gaza and faster facilitation of permissions and final approvals of all the emergency supplies.
All types of aid must be allowed through and not “cherry-picked”, Laerke stressed: “The bottom line again is that we are talking about a vastly insufficient amount of aid that eventually enters Gaza at the moment. That’s why we need [the] opening of more crossings, we need all types of aid - not that aid that is cherry-picked by the Israeli side that we are allowed to get in.”
The veteran humanitarian stressed the ongoing dangers and obstacles that have prevented aid teams from picking up and dispatching lifesaving supplies via the UN’s existing delivery network in Gaza.
“We are not always able to collect what is being dropped off on the other side because of the insecure routes that are being assigned to us by the Israeli authorities to use,” he said.
Meanwhile, in an update, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said that as of Monday, 294 trucks have reached Karm Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) from Port Ashdod. On Tuesday, media reports indicated that Israeli protesters attempted to block lorries loaded with aid from leaving the Israeli port.
“While desperately needed aid is finally trickling into Gaza, the pace is far too slow to meet the overwhelming needs,” WFP said. “Gaza families are at a breaking point, amid intensified fighting, waves of evacuation orders and population displacement.”
In the meantime, Juliette Touma, UNRWA Director of Communications, said that it had large medical shipments waiting that have been denied entry into Gaza.
"We have over 3000 trucks, not only of food, but also medicines that are lining up in places like Jordan, like Egypt, that are waiting for the green light to go in, and they're carrying medicines and that is expiring soon," she said.
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