A delegation consisting of UN envoys from 12 of the 15 members of the UN Security Council–the U.S., France, and Gabon did not participate–arrived at the Rafah crossing yesterday, following a stop in Al Arish, Egypt, to see the UN’s humanitarian operations in Gaza for themselves. Lana Nusseibeh, U.A.E. Permanent Representative to the UN, was the driving force behind organizing the trip. Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), was also on the flight, along with several UN personnel.
“We are here today to examine the humanitarian operations for the delivery of aid to Gaza through the Rafah crossing. It is important for council members who have travelled here to see firsthand the challenges faced by humanitarian actors on the ground,” Nusseibeh told the U.A.E. daily The National. “We have clearly seen in UN reporting that the aid reaching Gazans is insufficient, due to the current inspections and verification processes and because no other crossings and entry points have been opened to scale up aid delivery.”
“The recent pause made the need for an enhanced aid delivery mechanism to allow full, rapid, safe, and unhindered access clear,” Nusseibeh added. “Even with the temporary halt in fighting, the amount of aid that was able to enter Gaza fell far short of the scale required to meet the needs of more than 2 million people in Gaza.”
Reuters reported that the UN envoys spoke of unimaginable suffering and urged an end to the war on the Gaza Strip. China’s representative to the United Nations Zhang Jun simply told reporters, who asked if he had a message to nations that opposed a ceasefire in Gaza: “Enough is enough.” After visiting injured Gazans at a hospital in Al Arish, Zhang said the purpose of the trip was to “feel the situation on the ground.”
