Danon slams UN’s ‘mafia-like’ attempts to control Gazan aid flow

The Israeli ambassador said the world body was pressuring aid groups not to cooperate with the new attempt to provide food and medicine in the Strip.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon accused the United Nations on Wednesday of “mafia-like” attempts to control the aid flowing into the Gaza Strip.

“The UN is using threats, intimidation and retaliation against NGOs that choose to participate in the new humanitarian mechanism” who are “ignor[ing] the UN’s calls for a boycott” because “they truly care” about the Gazans, Danon charged in a session of the UN Security Council (UNSC) dedicated to the Middle East.

“Not only has the UN refused to condemn Hamas for its efforts to sabotage the new aid centers – we have seen the pictures of Hamas blocking people – but the UN is now actively joining Hamas in trying to block that aid,” he said.

A recently established, American-based and Israeli-backed organization called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began supplying thousands of civilian heads of families in the coastal enclave with sacks of non-perishable food items this week at two collection points recently built by the IDF.

Two more collections points are set to open by the end of the week, with GHF promising to provide one million people with aid and to expand the operation as quickly as possible.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs denounced the effort, saying the new group’s source of funding was not transparent and its stated goal of preventing Hamas terrorists from stealing the aid – as it has done on a massive scale to date – is “discriminatory” in practice, as aid should be provided unreservedly, with no questions asked.

Danon accused the body of behaving like an organized crime gang in its reaction.

“The UN’s response was mafia-like,” he stated. “Without any discussion, without due process, the UN removed those NGOs from the shared aid database…the central system for tracking aid deliveries into Gaza.”

“This is the gravest violation of the organization’s principles… an extortion of well-meaning NGOs that refuse to ‘kiss the ring,’ in a shakedown by UN mobsters,” he added, referring to the way mafia underlings would supposedly show their obeisance to their leader.

“Do not let your egos get in the way,” he concluded. “Cooperate with the new mechanism that … is operational. Shift your focus from dramatic press statements and intimidating NGOs to the work that you are supposed to be doing.”

This was the second time in about two weeks that Danon has slammed the international body’s principles regarding aid delivery.

On May 13, before Israel renewed permission for aid to enter Gaza, he told the UNSC, “Instead of admitting that the system has failed, the UN insists on preserving Hamas’ supply pipeline. This is not neutrality – this is support for terrorism.”

He referred to testimony given by a former hostage, Eli Sharabi, saying, “Eli saw with his own eyes UN aid packages entering Hamas tunnels. He saw the terrorists eating like kings while he and the hostages starved.”

“This is not aid – it is feeding terrorism,” he charged. “Those who insist on preserving the old mechanism do not protect human rights – they abandon them.”

Danny DanonGaza humanitarian aidGaza Humanitarian FundUNSC