US ‘deeply concerned’ by Israel banning UNRWA: UN envoy

U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield downplays UNRWA’s terror links, demands Israel solve humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

By World Israel News Staff

The United States Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield blasted Israel during a Security Council meeting on Wednesday, appearing to blame the Jewish State for the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and expressing Washington’s disapproval of Israeli efforts to ban UNRWA from operating on its soil.

A number of UNRWA employees were found to have participated in the October 7th massacres, with the Hamas terror group deeply infiltrating the organization.

Following revelations about UNRWA’s ties to terror, the Israeli Knesset is now advancing legislation to ban the UN body from Israel.

Speaking to the UN Security Council, Thomas-Greenfield said that the Biden administration is “deeply concerned” by proposals to ban UNRWA from Israel.

She downplayed UNRWA’s links to Hamas and other terror groups, claiming that “only a small percentage” of staffers and employees were terror-affiliated.

Therefore, she argued, the body should be permitted to continue its “vital humanitarian work” in the Gaza Strip.

Thomas-Greenfield also appeared to blame Israel for requiring security inspections of humanitarian goods entering the coastal enclave.

“We are…concerned by recent actions by the Israeli government to limit the delivery of goods into Gaza,” she said.

“When combined with new bureaucratic limits placed on humanitarian goods arriving from Jordan, and the closure of most border crossings in recent weeks, these restrictions would only have the effect of intensifying suffering in Gaza.

Thomas-Greenfield did not acknowledge that the Hamas terror group regularly steals humanitarian aid, stockpiling it in warehouses and selling it to Gazans at inflated prices.

The U.S. envoy also failed to mention that a humanitarian worker was recently murdered by Hamas gunmen, likely in order to steal the aid she was distributing to civilians.

Referencing “squalid conditions” in displacement camps for Gazans forced out of their homes by the fighting, Thomas-Greenfield placed the onus of responsibility for their wellbeing on Israel.

“These catastrophic conditions were predicted months ago, and yet, have still not been addressed. That must change, and now. We call on Israel to take urgent steps to do so, and I reiterate the United States’ expectation that Palestinian civilians, including those evacuated from the north be permitted to return to their communities and rebuild,” she added.

Biden AdministrationGaza crisisHamasLinda Thomas-GreenfieldUnited NationsUNRWA