UN Appoints Netherlands Minister Coordinator of Humanitarian Aid to Gaza

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The United Nations on Tuesday, Dec. 26 named a coordinator to oversee humanitarian relief shipments into Gaza as part of a UN Security Council resolution adopted on Friday to boost humanitarian aid.

Sigrid Kaag, the Netherlands' outgoing finance minister, will be the senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza starting on Jan. 8, the UN said in a statement.

"In this role, she will facilitate, coordinate, monitor, and verify humanitarian relief consignments for Gaza," the UN said. She will also establish a "mechanism" to accelerate aid into Gaza through countries not involved with the conflict.

A veteran UN diplomat, Kaag previously headed an international team of weapons experts charged with overseeing the elimination of Syria's chemical stockpile.

"We look forward to coordinating closely with Ms. Kaag and the UN Office for Project Services on efforts to accelerate and streamline the delivery of life-saving humanitarian relief to Palestinian civilians in Gaza," US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a written statement.

UN Security Council resolution stopped short of calling for a ceasefire after a week of vote delays and intense negotiations to avoid a United States veto.

It calls for "urgent steps to immediately allow safe, unhindered, and expanded humanitarian access and to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities."

Amid global outrage over a rising Gaza death toll in 11 weeks of constant bombardment by Israel and a worsening humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave, the US abstained from allowing the 15-member council to adopt a resolution drafted by the UAE.

The US and Israel oppose a ceasefire, believing it would only benefit Hamas, the Palestinian resistance group.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to Hamas' attack on Oct. 7 with an assault that has laid much of Gaza to waste.

Gaza's health authorities say nearly 21,000 people have been killed in Israeli strikes, with more feared buried under rubble. Nearly all of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes, many several times.

REUTERS

Editor's Choice: Papua Police to Provide Maximum Security for the Arrival of Lukas Enembe's Body

Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News