Israel’s failure to commit to full withdrawal contradicts promises made to Lebanon, Aoun says

GENEVA: The UN Palestinian relief agency said its humanitarian work across the occupied territories and Gaza was still ongoing on Friday despite an Israeli ban that took effect a day before and what it described as hostility toward its staff.

An Israeli law adopted in October bans operations by UNRWA, or UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, on Israeli land — including annexed East Jerusalem — and contact with Israeli authorities from Jan. 30.
Britain, France, and Germany on Friday reiterated their concern over Israel implementing the new law, which humanitarian agencies say will have a considerable impact on devastated Gaza as staff and supplies transit to the Palestinian enclave via Israel.
“We continue to provide services,” Juliette Touma, director of communications of UNRWA, told a press briefing in Geneva.
“In Gaza, UNRWA continues to be the backbone of the international humanitarian response. We continue to have international personnel in Gaza and bring in trucks of basic supplies.”
She said any disruptions to its work in Gaza would put a ceasefire deal that halted the war between Israel and Hamas at risk.
“If UNRWA is not allowed to continue to bring and distribute supplies, then the fate of this very fragile ceasefire is going to be at risk and is going to be in jeopardy,” she said.
Tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees in occupied East Jerusalem — whose annexation by Israel is not recognized internationally — also receive education, healthcare, and other services from UNRWA.
Touma said that its Palestinian staff in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are facing difficulties, citing examples of stone-throwing and hold-ups at checkpoints without attributing blame.
“They face an exceptionally hostile environment as a fierce disinformation campaign against UNRWA continues,” she said.
“It has been a really rough ride; it has not been easy. Our staff have not been protected.”
International staff have already left after their visas expired, she added.
Israel has long been critical of UNRWA and alleges its staff were involved in the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, which triggered the Gaza war.
The UN has said nine UNRWA staff may have been involved and were fired.
The ceasefire deal has allowed for a surge in humanitarian aid and enabled the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
Before the agreement, experts warned of imminent famine in northern Gaza.
Supplies have since risen and the World Food Programme said that more than 32,000 tonnes of food had entered Gaza since the Jan. 19 deal took effect.
At the same briefing, the World Health Organization’s Dr. Rik Peeperkorn said about 12,000-14,000 patients were waiting to be evacuated from Gaza across the Rafah crossing.
Fifty are set to be moved on Saturday amid warnings that some children could die.
He added that these would be the first medical evacuations via Rafah since it was shut in May last year.
“They (evacuations) must urgently resume, and a medical corridor must open up,” he said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel was committed to facilitating humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, saying assistance should go through other international agencies and NGOs.
“Humanitarian aid doesn’t equal UNRWA, and those who wish to support the humanitarian aid effort in the Gaza Strip should invest their resources in organizations that are alternative to UNRWA,” he said in a statement.
“We will abide by the law, and we will continue to facilitate humanitarian aid.”

CAIRO: Suez Canal Authority Chairman Osama Rabie has told shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk there are signs of stability returning to the Red Sea, and urged the company to take that into account when planning sea routes, according to a statement from the SCA.

The statement said Rabie made the comments at a meeting with the CEO of the Danish container shipping group and other senior executives but did not say when the meeting took place.
“We seek to take into account the positive indicators observed in the Red Sea region when planning maritime schedules in the coming period,” Rabie was quoted as saying.
Several major global shipping companies have suspended Red Sea voyages and rerouted vessels around southern Africa to avoid potential attacks from Houthis.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said in December the disruption had cost Egypt around $7 billion in revenues from the Suez Canal in 2024.
Last week, Maersk said it would continue to divert vessels away from the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea and toward the southern tip of Africa despite the Houthis announcing they would curb their attacks on ships.
Houthis have carried out more than 100 attacks on ships since November 2023 and sunk two vessels, seized another, and killed at least four seafarers.
Meanwhile, the volume of goods moving through Spanish ports rose by 6 percent in 2024 after they became the first point of call in Europe for many companies sending their goods around southern Africa.
The state port agency said Las Palmas in the Canary Islands and Barcelona saw 13 percent and 9 percent increases in volumes of merchandise, bulk liquids, and dry bulk last year.
“The situation has caused some specific peak moments of extra activity, to which Spanish ports have adapted,” the agency said, adding it expected higher port traffic to continue as instability in the Red Sea persists.
“Carriers will want to be assured there is an outlook for long-term safe passage before returning to the Red Sea to avoid further massive disruption if the situation deteriorates and they are forced to divert around Cape of Good Hope once again,” said Emily Stausboll, a senior shipping analyst at freight platform Xeneta.
The traffic of goods moved in containers through Spain’s ports rose by 11 percent last year, while Spanish ports also recorded an increase in vessels bunkering to prepare for longer routes, the agency said.
In 2023, the ports saw a 4.5 percent decline in container traffic.
According to two executives in the local fashion industry, some Spanish retailers shipped more goods by air to meet demand because of the additional two weeks required to ship goods to Europe via southern Africa.