He explains that the soldiers “threatened” the team with weapons and rammed the vehicles with tanks and bulldozers.
September 11 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The United Nations has denounced the actions of Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip as “endangering” the lives of its personnel and has once again criticised the recent interception at gunpoint of one of its convoys in the north of the enclave, as part of the polio vaccination campaign.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has specified that the incident “is the latest example of the unacceptable dangers and impediments experienced by humanitarian personnel in Gaza” and has stressed that the convoy was carrying twelve UN workers who “were going to support the polio vaccination campaign in northern Gaza.”
“The movement was fully coordinated with Israeli forces, with all details provided in advance,” he said in a statement, adding that Israeli troops stopped the convoy at a checkpoint to question two of the UN workers.
He said the situation escalated rapidly, with soldiers pointing their weapons directly at the convoy’s personnel. “The UN vehicles were surrounded by Israeli forces and shots were fired,” he said, adding that tanks and bulldozers rammed the vehicles, “clogging the convoy with the personnel still inside.”
“One of the bulldozers threw debris at the first vehicle, while Israeli soldiers threatened the personnel, making it impossible for them to exit the vehicles safely,” he said. “The convoy continued to be held at gunpoint while UN officials spoke with Israeli authorities to defuse tensions.”
In this regard, he stressed that the two UN workers were finally “interrogated” and “released”, while the convoy returned to its base after being held for seven and a half hours and “being unable to complete its humanitarian mission”.
“It is essential that Israeli forces take measures to protect humanitarian personnel and assets and facilitate their work, as required by international humanitarian law,” OCHA said, adding that the vaccination campaign in northern Gaza nevertheless began on Tuesday.
The Israeli army, for its part, confirmed that it intercepted the convoy in order to question a “number of suspected Palestinians” who were in it, while stressing that no vaccines were being transported and that its sole purpose was the exchange of United Nations personnel.
The World Health Organization (WHO), in coordination with other UN agencies and the Gaza authorities, controlled by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), began a vaccination campaign for children against polio last week, after the first case of the virus was confirmed in the enclave in 25 years.
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