The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov updated the UN Security Council about the situation in the Gaza Strip, during which he warned of a deteriorating situation in which there is a shortage of drinking water, hospitals have been closed down, and doctors have stopped performing surgeries. Mladenov further stressed that a total of 47% of Gaza Strip residents are unemployed, and that the unemployment rate among young people has reached 60%. In response to the report, the Bolivian ambassador claimed that the situation in the Gaza Strip has deteriorated as a result of the United States’ decision to freeze the transfer of tens of millions of dollars to the United Nations’ Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, UNRWA, while asserting that the primary responsibility for what he termed as “the catastrophic situation in Gaza,” lies with Israel.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon rejected those statements and stressed that the sole responsibility for the deteriorating humanitarian situation across the Gaza Strip lies with the Islamist Hamas organization, which controls the Palestinian enclave. Ambassador Danon said that Hamas has been ignoring the basic needs of the residents of Gaza and has been holding them hostage. The Israeli diplomat further noted that instead of using hundreds of millions of dollars that were sent by the international community for humanitarian purposes, Hamas used those funds to finance its ongoing terrorist activities.