Israel denying visas for heads of several agencies working in Gaza

Israel has refused to renew the visas for the heads of at least three United Nations agencies in Gaza, which the UN humanitarian chief said was “explicitly in response to our work on protection of civilians”, Euronews writes.

Visas for the local leaders of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the human rights agency OHCHR and the agency supporting Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) have not been renewed in recent months, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric confirmed.

Tom Fletcher, UN head of humanitarian affairs, told the Security Council on Wednesday that the UN’s humanitarian mandate is not just to provide aid to civilians in need and report what its staff witnesses, but to advocate for international humanitarian law.