Headlines
UN will not take part in US-backed aid effort in Gaza
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 15, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 15, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
The UN will not join the US-backed Gaza aid effort, citing concerns over impartiality. Israel will facilitate but not deliver aid.
By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Thursday it will not take part in a U.S.-backed humanitarian operation in Gaza because it is not impartial, neutral or independent, while Israel pledged to facilitate the effort without being involved in aid deliveries.
"This particular distribution plan does not accord with our basic principles, including those of impartiality, neutrality, independence, and we will not be participating in this," deputy U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters on Thursday.
The U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation will start work in Gaza by the end of May under a heavily-criticized distribution plan, but has asked Israel to let the United Nations and others resume deliveries now until it is set up.
The foundation has also asked Israel to expand an initial limited number of so-called secure aid distribution sites in Gaza's south to the enclave's north within 30 days.
"I'm not familiar with those requests, maybe when they went into Jerusalem, but I will tell you that we appreciate the effort of the United States," Israel's U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters on Thursday.
"We will not fund those efforts. We will facilitate them. We will enable them," he said. "Some of them will have to cross through territory that we operate."
No humanitarian assistance has been delivered to Gaza since March 2, and a global hunger monitor has warned that half a million people face starvation - a quarter of the population in the enclave where Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas have been at war since October 2023.
Israel has accused Hamas of stealing aid, which the group denies, and is blocking humanitarian deliveries to Gaza until Hamas releases all remaining hostages.
Israel and the U.S. have urged the U.N. and aid groups to cooperate with the GHF. However, they have raised concerns that the operation would not stick to the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality.
Danon said the "major operation" will start very soon.
"Israel will not be involved inside the operation center. We will not be the one giving the aid. We will not be even in those centers. It will be run by the fund itself, led by the U.S. And I'm happy that few NGOs joined these efforts," Danon said.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; editing by Susan Heavey ansd Ed Osmond)
The article discusses the UN's decision not to participate in a US-backed aid effort in Gaza due to concerns over impartiality and neutrality.
The UN cited concerns that the aid operation does not align with its principles of impartiality, neutrality, and independence.
Israel will facilitate the aid operation but will not be involved in delivering the aid directly.
Explore more articles in the Headlines category
