On Monday evening, Witkov participated in a ceremony organized by the Israeli embassy in Washington to mark the anniversary of the declaration of the establishment of the State of Israel on Palestinian lands from which its inhabitants were forcibly displaced.
"There are many ongoing efforts and initiatives regarding humanitarian aid to Gaza, which we commend," Witkov said during the ceremony, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
Meal every other day
In the same context, Adnan Abu Hasna, spokesperson for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said in a statement on Tuesday that "hundreds of thousands of Palestinians each eat one meal every two or three days."
Since March 2, Israel has closed the Gaza Strip's crossings to the entry of food, relief, medical aid, and goods, causing a significant deterioration in the humanitarian situation for Palestinians, according to government, human rights, and international reports.
Abu Hasna explained that more than "66,000 children in Gaza suffer from severe malnutrition" due to Israel's starvation policy.
On Saturday, the Government Media Office in Gaza announced that the death toll due to Israel's starvation policy had risen to 57 Palestinians since October 7, 2023, warning of a growing number given Tel Aviv's closure of the crossings and its prevention of the entry of relief aid for more than two months.
Abu Hasna affirmed that his UN agency "will not be part of the Israeli plan to bring aid into Gaza," emphasizing that the plan "does not adhere to UN standards."
According to what the Hebrew news website Walla reported yesterday, Monday, the security cabinet approved, during its last meeting (Sunday evening), an Israeli-American plan to resume the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, through an international fund and private companies.
According to a report from an Israeli official (whose name was not disclosed), the plan stipulates that aid be provided based on field assessments and distributed within "humanitarian complexes" established by Israel in the southern Gaza Strip. This mechanism has been widely rejected by the Palestinian side and international organizations, as it violates humanitarian principles.
Commenting on the plan, the International Humanitarian Country Team in the Occupied Palestinian Territory said in a statement issued Sunday evening that "Israel sought to shut down the current aid distribution system run by the United Nations and its humanitarian partners."
He added that Israel wants the team to agree to "a plan to deliver supplies through Israeli centers under conditions set by its military, once its government agrees to reopen the crossings." He warned that "the Israeli plan presented means that large parts of Gaza, including the least mobile and most vulnerable, will remain without supplies."
He stressed that the plan "contradicts international humanitarian principles, is dangerous, and pushes civilians into military zones to obtain rations, threatening lives and further entrenching forced displacement."
"The plan appears designed to enhance control over basic commodities as a means of pressure and as part of a military strategy," according to the international humanitarian team.
On March 18, Israel reneged on the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in effect since January 19, and resumed its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, despite Hamas's adherence to all terms of the agreement.