NEW YORK: The United Nations said on Monday that it will start bringing in more armored vehicles and personal protection equipment for its humanitarian aid operations in the Gaza Strip after receiving approval from Israeli authorities.
The approval was in response to a UN letter sent to Israel last month on safety and security in Gaza, said Scott Anderson, deputy humanitarian coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas enters its tenth month and law and order has broken down.
The UN has long complained of obstacles to getting aid into Gaza — Israel inspects and approves all trucks — and says it is also struggling to distribute aid amid “total lawlessness” within the enclave of 2.3 million people, where a global hunger monitor last month said there is a high risk of famine.
Anderson said the UN was due to start bringing more armored vehicles and protection equipment into Gaza on Tuesday.
“Some communications equipment has also been approved,” he told reporters, like hand-held radios, but added that discussions are still continuing on a UN request for stable Internet access.
The UN has said it wants communications that did not rely on cell phone towers because they were not reliable. However, Israeli authorities have security concerns about what Hamas could do if it accessed satellite Internet service.
‘CRIME FAMILIES’
Anderson said the UN needed to bring in aid in the right quantity and quality, but several factors “continue to stand in our way.” He listed problems including restrictions on movement, aid worker safety, unpredictable working hours, communications challenges and a lack of fuel.
“And we’ve seen a complete breakdown of law and order and we’ve seen essentially what are crime families preventing the free movement of aid into Gaza to assist people,” he said.
“The truck drivers that we use have been regularly threatened or assaulted ... they’ve become less and less willing, understandably, to move assistance from the border crossings to our warehouses and then onto people that are in need,” Anderson said.
He said the UN was getting between 25 and 70 aid trucks a day into northern Gaza, but there was no commercial access.
Anderson said in southern Gaza “we’ve been barely able to hit 100 trucks on a good day over the last week because of law and order problems,” but that commercial deliveries were doing a little better “but they pay essentially protection money to the families in the south and they also have armed guards.”
Aid officials say about 600 trucks of humanitarian and commercial supplies are
needed in Gaza daily
to meet the needs of the population.
He said the UN was “in talks with everybody about trying to get some sort of police force established” and in the meantime was working with the families that are hindering aid deliveries to try and address the problem.
“It’s a few families that are trying to take advantage of this opportunity and that’s why I’m confident if we get police back at work that they can address the issue,” Anderson said.
Israel allows UN to bring in more equipment amid Gaza lawlessness
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Israel allows UN to bring in more equipment amid Gaza lawlessness
- The UN has long complained of obstacles to getting aid into Gaza
Iraqi lawmakers to elect president Tuesday, PM appointment next
BAGHDAD: Iraq’s parliament will meet on Tuesday to elect the country’s new president, who will then appoint a prime minister expected to be Nouri Al-Maliki after he was endorsed by the largest Shiite bloc.
By convention, a Shiite Muslim holds the post of prime minister, the parliament speaker is Sunni and the largely ceremonial presidency goes to a Kurd.
Parliamentary speaker Haibat Al-Halbussi announced on Sunday that the new parliament will convene on Tuesday to elect a president, according to the official INA press agency.
The president will then have 15 days to appoint a prime minister, who is usually nominated by the largest Shiite bloc formed through post-election alliances.
On Saturday, the Coordination Framework alliance — whose Shiiite factions have varying links to Iran — endorsed former prime minister and powerbroker Al-Maliki as the country’s next premier.
The alliance, to which Al-Maliki belongs, spoke of his “political and administrative experience and his record in running the state.”
Kurdish parties have yet to agree on a presidential candidate, who must be endorsed by other blocs and win a two-thirds majority in parliament.
The presidency is usually held by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). This year, the rival Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) named its own candidate: Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein.
Although Maliki’s endorsement effectively guarantees him the post, forming a new government remains a daunting challenge that could drag on for months and still fail.
The designated premier has one month to form a government and present it to parliament for a vote of confidence.
The 75-year-old Maliki, a shrewd politician, is set to return to power at a time of seismic changes in the Middle East, as Tehran’s regional influence wanes and tensions with Washington rise.
Government formation in Iraq must balance internal political dynamics and power-sharing among major parties, all under the continued influence of Iraq’s two main allies: Iran and the United States.
A close Iran ally, Al-Maliki will be expected to address Washington’s longstanding demand that Baghdad dismantle Tehran-backed factions, many of which are designated terrorist groups by the US.
Last month, Iraqi officials and diplomats told AFP that Washington demanded the eventual government exclude Iran-backed armed groups, even though most of them hold seats in parliament, and have seen their political and financial clout increase.
But Iraq is struggling with weak economic growth and cannot risk punitive measures by the US, which has already sanctioned several Iraqi entities, accusing them of helping Tehran evade sanctions.
