(JNS) The United Nations is blaming an “administrative error” for its removal of two relief organizations, which the Israeli U.N. delegation has said are tied to the U.S.-backed, independent Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, from its database of aid organizations. But an Israeli diplomatic source with knowledge of U.N. issues told JNS that the global body dragged its feet on fixing the problem due to its animosity toward the foundation.
Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday that there is a “mafia-like” shakedown at the global body, which has involved removing non-governmental organizations, which are part of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, from its central system for tracking aid delivery in the Strip.
The system, which the United Nations refers to as a “shared aid database,” was created and approved under a U.N. General Assembly resolution. Only organizations that are registered in the database can coordinate with or participate in U.N.-led aid delivery efforts.
“This is the gravest violation of the U.N.’s own principles,” the Israeli envoy told the Security Council on Wednesday. “It is the extortion of any well-meaning NGO that refuses to kiss the ring. A shakedown with U.N.-branding.”
Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesman for António Guterres, the U.N. secretary-general, told JNS on Wednesday afternoon that “there are no differences between the current list and the one from before the launch of the GHF.”
JNS heard a different story from a U.N. official, who declined to be named, on Thursday. “Yesterday, an admin error occurred affecting two NGOs,” the official said. “This was quickly rectified and clarified.”
The Israeli diplomatic source told JNS that the error was only fixed after a “tense” conversation, throughout the day on Wednesday, between a high-ranking Israel Defense Forces officer and Sarah Poole, the U.N. deputy special coordinator and humanitarian coordinator for the Middle East peace process.
During the discussion, Poole acknowledged that several agencies were removed from the database due to an “administrative error” and told the IDF officer that they would be reinstated, per the diplomatic source. (JNS sought comment from Poole and further comment from the U.N. official.)
Danon told JNS that the United Nations “has seen multiple damaging failures in recent weeks.”
“First, the United Nations openly rejected the U.S.-led humanitarian aid distribution plan that would see aid reaching Gazans and not Hamas terrorists. The United Nations then threatened the NGOs who agreed to work with the GHF plan,” he told JNS. “The United Nations then denied doing this, and now it appears they admit to it.”
The Israeli diplomatic source would not identify which NGOs the United Nations pulled from the database, but confirmed that there were two. The source confirmed that both of the groups have been re-added to the database. (JNS sought comment from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.)
‘No differences’
JNS asked Dujarric at a U.N. press briefing on Thursday why the global body has said that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is undermining U.N. efforts to aid Gazans.
“What would be most productive in our eyes is that the Israeli government’s capacity to support humanitarian distribution be done,” he told JNS. “The resources and the focus that the Israeli security services, the Israeli government is doing on facilitating the GHF will be better used facilitating and supporting the work of the United Nations and our partners, which has a proven track record of effective aid distribution in Gaza, which we’ve been doing for a long time.”
“We also feel that the work that the GHF has been doing has been putting the lives of Palestinians at risk,” Dujarric told JNS.
In response to another reporter, who asked about Danon’s accusation that the United Nations has threatened and retaliated against NGOs that participated in the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, Dujarric said, “When was the last time we threatened anybody?”
“We’re not in the business of threatening people,” he said. “I’m not going to go any further. We’re not a threatening organization.”
Unauthorized logos
In a sign of how sensitive the issue is of NGOs working with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, one entity lodged a complaint after its logo was captured in photographs distributed by the foundation, which is independent of the United Nations and which aims to deliver aid without Hamas looting it.
Rahma, which is based in Beverly Hills, Mich., and whose website contains anti-Israel articles, asked that its logo be removed from the aid that the foundation delivered.
In a May 28 statement, Rahma said that the “Global Humanitarian Foundation” took custody of four containers, with 4,000 boxes of food, stationed at Rahma’s location in Gaza. The supplies had sat for four days, despite Rahma having secured necessary entry permits, it stated.
After the GHF transported the supplies “to an internal distribution point,” it “requested that our local Rahma team assist with distribution,” the Michigan group stated. “Rahma’s management had made the decision not to proceed with distribution under the mechanism” and told the team not to be part of the process, it said.
The only results that an online search returns for a “Global Humanitarian Foundation” working in Gaza appear to be errors, which were meant to refer to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
There is a Global Humanitarian Foundation charity in the United Kingdom, but there is no record of it delivering aid in Gaza.
