Editors’ note: This is the latest in Just Security’s weekly series keeping readers up to date on developments at the United Nations at the intersection of national security, human rights, and the rule of law.
Developments on U.N. Aid in Gaza
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on Wednesday that about 40 percent of U.N. aid operations in Gaza over the last month have been denied or impeded by Israel. The OCHA attributes these issues to both decreased security on the ground in the Gaza Strip and frequent and prolonged closures of key border crossings.
Despite these on-the-ground roadblocks, the U.S. military air dropped multiple rounds of aid this week in what it said was a plan to address the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
Also on Wednesday, CBC News reported that Canada plans to resume funding the U.N. Relief Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNWRA), which is tasked with aiding Palestinian refugees, in April. Canada, alongside other countries including the United States, paused funding in January following allegations from Israel that 12 UNWRA employees participated in the October 7th Hamas attacks. Canada has recently expressed concerns over a lack of evidence and reportedly made this decision after receiving an interim report from the U.N. examining the allegations. Israel has long called for the defunding and dismantling of UNWRA.
In related news, South Africa requested that the International Court of Justice order additional provisional measures in its Genocide Convention case against Israel, which it said were necessary to prevent famine in Gaza and ensure that the Court’s January order on provisional measures was respected.
Note: Readers may be interested in our Gaza coverage.
Warnings of Famine, Findings on Atrocities in Sudan
The U.N. World Food Program says the war in Sudan is “triggering the world’s largest hunger crisis.” The program says the crisis in Sudan has intensified since local authorities in Sudan’s western Darfur region revoked permission for cross-border truck convoys from Chad. Newly arrived and displaced people are disproportionately affected, and one in five children at the main border crossing between Sudan and South Sudan are malnourished, the U.N. reports.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, in remarks to the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday, discussed “stomach churning” findings by the U.N. Panel of Experts whose recent report on Sudan included findings of gender-based violence, ethnic-based killings, and targeting of civilians by combatants. The Security Council is currently considering a United Kingdom-drafted resolution that would call for an immediate cessation of hostilities ahead of Ramadan, which begins next week. This resolution could be voted on by the end of the week.
Note: Readers may be interested in our Sudan coverage.