Israel Rejects Extending Visa Of Senior UN Officials On Alleged Anti-Israeli Bias

JAKARTA - Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar ordered the visa of a senior United Nations (UN) official Jonathan Whittall not to be extended, an Israeli official said.

Wittall is known to have held the position of Head of the UN Humanitarian Affairs Coordination Office (OCHA) in the Gaza Strip, Palestine.

"As a result of biased behavior towards Israel," Foreign Minister Sa'ar "ordered the termination of Whittall's activities, and his residence permit would not be extended," the official told The Times of Israel, as reported July 21.

Whittall, who lives in Jerusalem and divides its time between Jerusalem and Gaza, will end his post and leave Israel "in the near future," the official said.

The official referred to Whittall's statement to reporters last month, when he said conditions near the distribution site of aid in Gaza were "created to kill," and that "what we witnessed [in Gaza] was a massacre. This is armed hunger. This is forced evacuation. And this is the death penalty for people who are only trying to survive."

Last week, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric confirmed visas for three UN agency leaders working in Gaza; OCHA, OHCHR and UNRWA human rights agencies have not been extended in recent months.

"The visa was not extended or reduced in duration by Israel, explicitly in response to our work on the protection of civilians," Tom Fletcher, head of UN humanitarian affairs, told the United Nations last week at a Security Council meeting.

Fletcher himself described conditions in Gaza "out of vocabulary," and said Palestinians were shot while trying to get food.

Separately, Israel's UN mission responded to them "investigating this issue" and criticizing UN agencies such as OCHA and UNRWA for ignoring neutrality, citing alleged bias and relations with Hamas.