ISTANBUL

Israel will not approve UN food convoys to the northern Gaza Strip, the head of the United Nations relief agency for Palestinians said Sunday.

“Despite the tragedy unfolding under our watch, the Israeli Authorities informed the UN that they will no longer approve any UNRWA food convoys to the north,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said on X.

“This is outrageous and makes it intentional to obstruct lifesaving assistance during a man-made famine,” he added.

Israel accused 12 of the UNRWA's 30,000 employees of involvement in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, which killed nearly 1,200 people.

Several Western countries, including the US, suspended their funding to the UN refugee agency pending investigations into the Israeli allegations.

The EU, Canada and Sweden, however, announced earlier this month that they will proceed with funding for UNRWA as Israel has yet to put any evidence publicly to support its allegations.

UNRWA was created by the UN General Assembly more than 70 years ago to assist Palestinians who were forcibly displaced from their land.

The agency provides crucial support to millions of Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and other areas where large numbers of registered Palestinians live.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Palestinian territory since Oct. 7 and imposed a crippling blockade that left most of the population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

More than 32,200 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive and over 74,500 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala