Israeli officials signal they want UN to remain key Gaza aid channel, says senior UN official

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -Israeli officials have signaled they want the United Nations to remain the key avenue for humanitarian deliveries in Gaza, the deputy head of the World Food Programme said on Friday, noting the work of a controversial U.S. aid group was not discussed.

"They wanted the U.N. to continue to be the main track for delivery, especially should there be a cease fire, and they asked us to be ready to scale up," Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the U.N. food agency, told reporters on Friday after visiting Gaza and Israel last week.

The U.S., Egypt and Qatar are trying to broker a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas in Gaza. Hamas said on Wednesday that the flow of aid was one of the sticking points.

Israel and the United States have publicly urged the U.N. to work through the new Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, but the U.N. has refused, questioning the group's neutrality and accusing the distribution model of militarizing aid and forcing displacement.

Skau said he met with Israeli authorities at different levels last week and that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation "did not come up in those conversations." 

"I think there were rumors of the U.N. being pushed out, but it was very clear in my engagement that they want the U.N. to continue to be the main track in delivery," Skau said.

DEATHS

Since Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade on Gaza on May 19, allowing limited U.N. deliveries to resume. The GHF launched its operation, using private U.S. security and logistics firms to transport aid to distribution hubs, a week later.

The United Nations human rights office said on Friday that it had recorded 615 deaths near GHF sites and 183 deaths "presumably on the route of aid convoys" operated by the U.N. and other relief groups.

GHF has repeatedly said there have been no deaths at any of its aid distribution sites. The group said on Friday that it has so far delivered more than 70 million meals in Gaza. The U.S. State Department has approved $30 million in funding for the GHF, which touts its model as "reinventing aid delivery in war zones."

Israel and the United States have accused Hamas of stealing aid from the U.N.-led operations, which the militants deny.

Throughout the conflict, the United Nations has described its humanitarian operation in Gaza as opportunistic - facing problems with Israel's military operation, access restrictions by Israel into and throughout Gaza, and looting by armed gangs.

But the U.N. has said its aid distribution system works, and that was particularly proven during a two-month ceasefire, which Israel abandoned in mid-March. The U.N. said it got 600-700 trucks of aid a day into Gaza during the truce and has stressed then when people know there is a steady flow of aid, the looting subsides.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; editing by Diane Craft)