The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) says it will lift its suspension on the import of humanitarian aid into Gaza after the Hamas terrorist organization complied with the agency's demand to return all the supplies its operatives stole last week. However, said the agency, that doesn't mean its staff still is entirely able to distribute food supplies freely.
A totally different issue, one connected with the Israeli government, is still holding up the works, according to Jerusalem-based UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness.
In a terse statement issued to the media on Monday, Gunness complained, "The Agency's food distribution operation to 900,000 refugees continues to be jeopardized by the decision of the Israeli government to refuse entry of the three truckloads of nylon pellets for making the plastic bags in which the food is distributed. The only available bags are those on the local market."
The complaints aren't new. Gunness also told Israel National News in an interview conducted before last week's armed robberies that UNRWA was denied approval to bring into Gaza 12 truckloads of bulk paper to print text books for the 221 schools it runs in the region. "These include the human rights textbooks for the second semester, which has already started," he said.
In his statement, Gunness added that the agency was also prevented from importing five trucks of exercise books for some 200,000 children. "Sixty percent of children in UNRWA are without their full complement of textbooks," he charged.
Defense Ministry: 'UNRWA Being Part of the Problem'
"UNRWA unfortunately is being part of the problem and not part of the solution in this case," responded IDF Major Peter Lerner, spokesman for the Defense Ministry's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) on Wednesday.
In an email response to Israel National News, Lerner said bluntly that UNRWA had inadequate control over its supplies in the past, leading Israel to limit the materials allowed in to the region, regardless of who does the importing or for what purpose.
"As far as plastic pellets (for nylon bags) and also paper for printing school books, UNRWA, has been proven to have limited control over their warehouses, let alone private contractors such as printing houses and nylon bag manufacturers," Lerner contended.
Lerner emphasized, "Israel does not want the Hamas terrorist regime to gain from the aftermath of Operation Cast Lead. This, we believe is a mutual interest in the war against terrorist factions."
Lerner said COGAT has informed UNRWA of a Defense Ministry recommendation that the U.N. agency import the supplies from the Palestinian Authority areas in Judea and Samaria, already made. "I would urge UNRWA to accept these conditions in order to bring the goods and books needed for the refugee population in Gaza. I feel this is both pragmatic and in the interest of all parties," he said.