U.N. aid delivery has halted in the Gaza Strip due to Israel’s evacuation orders and the global body’s inability to operate safely, a senior U.N. official told journalists on Monday.

“What transpired over the weekend brings us to a point where we just cannot continue to operate, and it’s not under our control,” the official said of orders by the Israel Defense Forces to evacuate Deir al Balah, which had been classified as a humanitarian area.Subscribe to The JNS Daily Syndicate by email and never miss our top storiesFree sign upBy signing up, you agree to receive emails from JNS and allied pro-Israel organizations.

“This is not a decision that we’re saying, ‘We’re stopping to operate,’ but practically we cannot operate,” the official said.

The official, who spoke on background, said that the United Nations has no plan to withdraw from Gaza, even as the “space to operate” around active combat sites decreases.

“We’re not leaving, because the people need us,” the official said. “We’re trying to balance the needs of the population with the need for safety and security of U.N. personnel.”

‘What happens after?’

To carry out a necessary polio vaccination campaign in Gaza, which requires additional U.N. staff in the Strip from the World Health Organization and UNICEF, the global body needs more armored vehicles and better communications equipment, according to the senior U.N. official. “Ongoing discussions” were taking place on Monday morning with Israel, the official said.

“We need to have support from Israel,” the official said.

The United Nations, which considers Israel an “occupying” power, believes that the Jewish state must secure aid convoys in Gaza, while Israel states that its responsibilities end once it helps goods enter Gaza.

Bringing the aid to Kerem Shalom, the largest area for it to cross along the Israeli-Gazan border, is only part of the process, according to the official. “What happens after? That’s where the biggest challenges are that we’re facing,” the official said.

The official told reporters that the United Nations is engaging “in a very open-minded way” with the IDF and Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, among other Israeli entities.

“Solutions are not coming fast enough,” the official said.

The official also said that some U.N. staff members are spread out—some with family—in the Strip, placing people in added danger, and that U.N. staff and staff of other international nonprofits had to leave an operations center behind because there wasn’t enough time to pack it up. When the United Nations asked to return to retrieve it, the IDF had already moved into the area, per the senior U.N. official.

Waiting for extended periods at dangerous checkpoints and looting of aid convoys—often “done by criminal gangs that are after cigarettes” smuggled from Egypt—are also challenges, per the official.

Puffing up

JNS asked the senior U.N. official about the coordinated cigarette-smuggling operation, which was cited as a major aim of the looted aid trucks.

The global body has held discussions with Egyptian officials “to try and mitigate” the problem, the official said. “It’s an intricate network of criminal gangs that are operating these.”

“Where we are, we have control of triaging what goes on to some of these humanitarian convoys,” the official added. “But also you need to understand that some of these are being led by the private sector. They’re not all under the U.N. control.”

“There is a multiplicity of options for these criminal gangs that take full advantage of those who are suffering in Gaza and the economic situation,” the official said.

The senior U.N. official said that Israel “is a partner” to the United Nations and that “a key element” is a need for more Israeli trust of the United Nations. 

“Those that I engage with time and time again—they share common objectives” of helping Gazans, the official said.

The Israeli government, its diplomatic arms and its military have often been at odds with various U.N. offices and agencies during the war, with each side accusing the other at times of serving as an obstacle to humanitarian aid delivery.