Il Nuovo Postiglione - UN names outgoing Dutch minister humanitarian coordinator for Gaza

NYSE - LSE

CMSC	-0.53%	20.81	$
CMSD	-0.34%	20.69	$
RIO	0.42%	103.27	$
BCC	2.64%	79.21	$
BCE	-0.59%	23.67	$
RYCEF	0.7%	19.92	$
NGG	-0.06%	78.12	$
RBGPF	0%	70	$
RELX	-3.21%	35.51	$
AZN	-1.27%	162.7	$
GSK	-1.96%	49.89	$
BTI	-1.12%	55.35	$
VOD	1.89%	16.9	$
JRI	-0.58%	12.14	$
BP	0.52%	43.81	$

UN names outgoing Dutch minister humanitarian coordinator for Gaza

POLITICS 26.12.2023

UN names outgoing Dutch minister humanitarian coordinator for Gaza / Photo: Phil Nijhuis - ANP/AFP

The United Nations named an outgoing Dutch minister its humanitarian coordinator for Gaza on Tuesday following last week's watered-down Security Council resolution which called for aid to be delivered to the strip "at scale."

Text size:

Sigrid Kaag's appointment comes as the people of Gaza face a dire humanitarian emergency, with aid slowed to a trickle by Israel's continued bombardment of the densely populated coastal strip.

She will start work on January 8, the UN said in a statement.

Last week's UN Security Council resolution called for the "safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale" -- but did not call for an immediate end to fighting.

The bloodiest ever Gaza war erupted when Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7 and killed about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

They took 250 hostages of whom 129 remain inside Gaza.

Israel launched an extensive aerial bombardment and a siege followed by a ground invasion. The campaign has killed 20,915 people, according to Hamas-run Gaza's health ministry.

"United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres today announced the appointment of Ms Sigrid Kaag of the Netherlands as Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza," the UN said in a statement.

The Security Council adopted the resolution on Gaza on Friday after days of delays and diplomatic wrangling.

A draft version of the resolution had said that the aid mechanism to accelerate the delivery of relief would be "exclusively" under UN control.

But the final version, passed after Washington abstained, now states it would be managed in consultation with "all relevant parties" -- meaning Israel would retain operational oversight of aid deliveries.

Kaag has been the Netherlands' deputy prime minister and finance minister since January 2022. She has previously held a number of senior UN jobs including its special coordinator for Lebanon and the Joint Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the United Nations Mission in Syria.

F.dAangelo--INP

Featured

Solomons PM survives attempt to oust government

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale adjourned the Pacific nation's parliament indefinitely on Monday, after staring down a no-confidence vote closely watched by China and US allies.

25 years on, America seeks to keep 9/11 memories alive

A quarter century after the era-defining attacks of September 11, the United States is eager to keep alive the memory of a 2001 trauma that is fading as the proportion of Americans who did not experience it firsthand grows.

'Trumpapalooza' tests Republican bet on unpopular US president

US Republicans will gather in Dallas, Texas, next week for a two-day convention aimed at convincing voters that Donald Trump is effectively on the ballot in November -- even as the deeply unpopular president threatens to become a liability for his own party.

North Korea vows nuclear-armed navy as US ally drills open

Leader Kim Jong Un vowed to build North Korea's navy into a nuclear-armed force, state media reported Monday as US allies' maritime drills were to begin.