Amira Hass, the well-known journalist and daughter of Holocaust survivors, penned an op-ed in the Feb. 4 edition of Haaretz, “When the West Collectively Punishes Gaza by Suspending Funding to UNRWA,” in which she blasted the cutoff in funding to UNRWA.
“Their decision to opt for collective punishment will worsen the hunger, malnutrition, thirst, and disease ravaging the Gaza Strip. These states’ quick announcement shows contempt for last month’s interim order by the International Court of Justice in The Hague after it had ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent genocide, which include ensuring the entry of humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip—something in which UNRWA plays a central role.
“Fifteen countries [it is now 18—ed.], headed by the U.S. and Germany, are signaling that they view the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip less seriously than the suspicions raised by the evidence regarding 12 of the agency’s employees, and that reducing or halting this mass disaster is less urgent than pleasing their ally, Israel.”
