GENEVA (dpa): The UN is explicitly mentioned in US President Donald Trump's peace plan for the Gaza Strip, but it was not involved in its creation, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in Geneva on Tuesday.
Since the beginning in 2023 of the Israeli war against the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the office has been trying to coordinate aid for the suffering population.
OCHA spokespeople repeatedly report on Israeli obstructions and bureaucratic requirements for planned aid convoys, which they say make it difficult to supply the people.
Aid transports are also stopped and looted by desperate people as well as armed groups before they reach distribution points, said OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke.
According to the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS), since mid-May, over 6,400 trucks have been looted, mainly from the World Food Programme.
Point 8 of the US plan states verbatim: "Entry of distribution and aid in the Gaza Strip will proceed without interference from the two parties through the United Nations and its agencies, and the Red Crescent, in addition to other international institutions not associated in any manner with either party.
"Opening the Rafah crossing in both directions will be subject to the same mechanism implemented under the January 19, 2025, agreement."
Laerke stressed that the aid supplies are in the region, that the OCHA has the structures for supply, and can start as soon as Israel gives the green light. - dpa
