Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield Confirms US Will Supervise Israel's Policy To Ensure No Starvation In Gaza

JAKARTA - United States Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council on Wednesday it was watching to ensure Israel's actions on the ground showed they had no "hungry policy" in the northern Gaza Strip.

The senior diplomat told 15 board member states such a policy would be "terrible and unacceptable and would have implications under international law and US law."

"The Israeli government has said this is not their policy, that food and other important supplies will not be cut off, and we will monitor to see if Israel's actions on the ground are in line with this statement," Thomas-Greenfield said.

Uncle Sam's country has told Israel it must take steps in the next 30 days to improve the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave or face potential military aid restrictions, US officials said on Tuesday.

Separately, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss the expansion of humanitarian aid to Gaza, three officials attending the discussion said, with aid likely to increase soon.

"Food and supplies must be immediately distributed to Gaza. And there must be a humanitarian pause throughout Gaza to allow vaccination and delivery as well as distribution of humanitarian aid," said Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield.

It is known that the latest conflict in Gaza broke out in line with the attack of the Palestinian militant group led by Hamas on Israel's southern region on October 7, 2023.

About 1,200 people were killed and 250 others held hostage as a result of the attack, triggering an Israeli campaign by blockade, airstrikes and ground operations by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Separately, health authorities in Gaza reported on Tuesday that Palestinian death toll from Israeli attacks since the latest conflict broke out on October 7, 2023, had reached 42,344 and 99,013 others injured, with the majority of victims being women and children.

Meanwhile, Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon told the council that the problem in Gaza was not a lack of assistance, saying more than 1 million tonnes had been sent over the past year. He accused Hamas of hijacking the humanitarian aid.

"Israel, together with our international partners, continues to flood Gaza with help, but that aid will never reach all those in need as long as Hamas is still in power," he said.

"Hamas has made the humanitarian situation a weapon," he added.

Hamas himself has repeatedly denied Israel's accusations of stealing aid, saying Israel is to blame for the shortcomings.

The United Nations has long complained of obstacles in incorporating aid to Gaza and distributing it throughout the war zone, blaming Israel and violating the law on these obstacles. The United Nations said no food aid had entered northern Gaza between October 2 and October 15.

"Given the sad conditions and unbearable suffering in northern Gaza, the fact that humanitarian access is almost non-reasonable is the case," UN aid chief Joyce Msuya told the council.

On Wednesday, an Israeli military unit overseeing aid and commercial deliveries to Gaza said 50 trucks carrying food, water, medical equipment, and residential equipment provided by Jordan had been transferred to northern Gaza.

Msuya said, throughout Gaza, less than a third of the 286 humanitarian missions coordinated with Israel over the past two weeks were facilitated without major incidents or delays.

He said on October 12, the humanitarian team reached two hospitals in northern Gaza after being rejected or blocked by Israeli forces nine times. They transferred more than a dozen critical patients to Al Shifa hospitals in Gaza City.

"These missions were resolved amid ongoing fierce hostilities," Msuya said, adding drivers in the convoy "was subjected to embarrassing treatment during security checks and temporary detention" at an Israeli checkpoint.

"The medical staff keeps one child alive by pumping oxygen manually for more than seven hours until they make it past the checkpoint," he said.