UNITED NATIONS — The US ambassador to the United Nations on Monday accused the Israeli military of striking schoolshumanitarian workers and civilians in Gaza, in a sign of growing US frustration with its ally as the war approaches its first anniversary.
Israel has repeatedly said it is attacking Hamas militants, who often hide with civilians and use them as human shields, in retaliation for the October 7 attacks in southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people and launched the war in Gaza.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield was unusually outspoken against the Israeli military during a UN Security Council meeting, saying many of the strikes in recent weeks that injured or killed UN staff and humanitarian workers ‘could have been prevented’.
Many council members cited last week’s Israeli attack on a former school that is now a civilian shelter run by the UN agency that helps Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWAin which six UNRWA workers were among at least 18 dead, including women and children.
Israel said it had attacked a Hamas command and control center in the complex, and Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon claimed Monday that Hamas militants were killed in the attack. He named four of them and told the council that they worked for UNRWA during the day and for Hamas at night.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for an independent investigation.
Thomas-Greenfield told council members that the US will continue to emphasize the need for Israel to facilitate humanitarian operations in the Palestinian territories and to protect humanitarian workers and facilities such as the UNRWA shelter.
She also reiterated America’s “outrage” over the death of Turkish-American activist Aysenur Eygiwho was shot dead last week during a protest in the West Bank. The Israel Defense Forces said it likely killed Eygi accidentally, and the government has opened a criminal investigation.
“The IDF is a professional army and knows very well how to ensure that these types of incidents do not happen,” the US envoy said.
Thomas-Greenfield said the United States expects Israeli military leaders to implement ‘fundamental changes’ in their operations, including their rules of engagement and procedures, to ensure that military operations do not conflict with humanitarian activities and not aimed at schools and other civil facilities.
“We have also made it clear to Israel that there is no basis – absolutely none – for its forces to open fire on clearly marked UN vehicles, as has happened repeatedly recently,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
At the same time, she said Hamas is also hiding in civilian locations and in some cases taking over or using them, posing an “ongoing threat.”
She said it underscores the urgency of reaching a ceasefire and a deal to release hostages in Gaza. While the United States is working with co-mediators Egypt and Qatar to try to get both sides “to agree that enough is enough,” she said, “this is ultimately a “a matter of political will” and difficult compromises.
State Secretary Antony Blinken leaves for Egypt this week for talks on refining a proposal that would be presented to Israel and Hamas.
The United States urges “all council members with influence over Hamas to join others in pressuring Hamas leaders to stop stalling, make these compromises, and accept the deal without delay,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
She spoke after the UN’s top humanitarian official in Gaza said the area was a “hell on earth” for the more than 2 million people who live there and called the lack of effective protection for civilians “unconscionable.”
Sigrid Kaag, the UN’s senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, told council members and reporters that the war has changed the area “in the abyss.”
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which makes no distinction between civilians and fighters, more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed during the Israeli offensive.
Humanitarian operations are hampered by lawlessness, Israeli evacuation orders, fighting and difficult conditions for aid workers, including Israeli denials of access, delays, a lack of safety and security and “poor logistical infrastructure,” Kaag said.
Danon stressed that Israel’s humanitarian efforts are “unparalleled” for a country forced to wage war and urged the Security Council and the UN “to speak the facts.”
He said more than 1 million tons of aid had been delivered via more than 50,000 trucks and nearly 1 million land border crossings, with only a fraction of that being blocked.
When asked about Danon’s statements, Kaag referred to recent attacks on humanitarian convoys, schools and health facilities about which Israel had been informed in advance.
“It’s not about trucks. It’s about what people need,” she said. “We’re far, far away from what people need, not just on a daily basis, but what we would all consider a decent human life.”
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