Head Of UN Agency Says Israel Rejects Assistance Transport Trucks For Bringing Scissors

UNRWA Commissioner Philippe Lazzarini when he met Palestinian refugees in southern Gaza. (Wikimedia Commons/UNRWA/Mohamed Hinnawi)

JAKARTA - Commissioner General of the UN Aid and Work Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini said a truck loaded with aid was denied entry and asked to make a U-turn, for carrying scissors used in medical equipment for children.

Israel is known to carry out strict checks on all humanitarian aids that will enter Gaza. Restrictions have also been carried out since the Hamas-Israeli conflict broke out on October 7, including limiting the entry of dual use items (goods that can be used by civilians and the military).

"Medical editing is now added to the long list of prohibited items classified by the Government of Israel as dual use," Lazzarini claimed in a post on social media X, reported by CNN March 13.

"The list includes basic items and life-saving: ranging from anesthesia, solar lights, oxygen cylinders and ventilators, to water-cleaning tablets, cancer medicines, and maternity equipment," he explained.

He stressed that the lives of two million people depend on "cleaning up humanitarian supplies and delivering basic and critical items," adding "there is no time to waste."

Earlier, humanitarian workers and government officials working to provide the much-needed assistance to Gaza said there was a clear pattern of obstacles Israel was making, as disease and hunger conditions hit the trapped enclave.

It is known that the COGAT (Israeli Government Activity Coordinator in the Region) examined all aid entering the Gaza region. The Israeli body was accused by an aid agency of refusing access for arbitrary or without reason at all.