UN to reduce staff in Gaza, blames Israel for strike that killed its employee
Deir al-Balah, Mar 24 (AP): The United Nations said Monday it will “reduce its footprint” in the Gaza Strip after an Israeli tank strike hit one of its compounds last week, killing one staffer and wounding five others.
Israel has denied it was behind the March 19 explosion at the UN guesthouse in central Gaza. In a statement Monday, UN Secretary-General spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said that “based on the information currently available,” the strikes on the site “were caused by an Israeli tank.”
The Israeli military did not immediately comment.
Dujarric said the UN “has made taken the difficult decision to reduce the Organization's footprint in Gaza, even as humanitarian needs soar.”
He said the world body was cutting back about a third of its approximately 100 international staffers in Gaza. He said the UN “is not leaving Gaza,” pointing out that it still has about 13,000 national staff in Gaza, mainly working for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
The move comes as Israel has cut off all food, fuel, medicine and other supplies to Gaza's around 2 million people for more than three weeks. Last week, it relaunched its military campaign in Gaza, with bombardments that have since killed hundreds of Palestinians, breaking a ceasefire in place since mid-January.
Israel says it is targeting Hamas to force it to accept new terms for the ceasefire and release more hostages.
Olga Cherevko, spokesperson for the UN's humanitarian office, known as OCHA, said the U.N. and its partners have already suspended a number of activities, many in education, protection and water and sanitation services. The reason, she was, was safety concerns and the impact of Israeli evacuation orders.
“A lot things are constrained right now because of the security situation,” she told AP before Dujarric's announcement. “The challenges are massive. We have had a lot of our activities affected by the situation and a lot of our partners have had to suspend operations because it is just not safe.”
Movement of trucks, including those distributing water, have been affected, she said. Only 29 out of 237 temporary learning spaces have resumed their activities since the ceasefire collapse, she said.
The United Nations previously didn't say who was behind the strike on its compound. The Bulgarian staffer who was killed, Marin Valev Marinov, 51, was a member of the UN Office for Project Services, which carries out infrastructure and development projects around the world.
A strike exploded near the compound, then hit it directly in the days before the deadly strike, UNOPS chief Jorge Moreira da Silva said earlier. He said the agency had contacted the Israeli military after the first strike and confirmed that the military was aware of the facility's location.
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“Full prepared..going to win,” Congress MP KC Venugopal ahead of Kerala polls
EC not functioning as a neutral institution: Venugopal
Congress MP K. C. Venugopal on Monday raised concerns over the election schedule announced by the Election Commission of India for the upcoming Kerala Assembly election, questioning the timing of the poll dates and alleging that the schedule leaves limited time for campaigning.
Speaking to news agency ANI in Delhi after the poll panel announced elections in five states and Union Territories, Venugopal said that the Congress and the United Democratic Front (UDF) are fully prepared for the elections and confident of victory. At the same time, he questioned the pattern of dates announced by the Election Commission.
“We are fully prepared, we are going to win the elections... You can see how the Election Commission has set the dates. The first phase of elections is on the 9th, nominations are due until the 23rd, scrutiny is on the 24th, nominations can be withdrawn until the 26th, and after that, there are 11 days for campaigning,” he said.
“As for Kerala, there is Easter and Good Friday in the first week...The Election Commission could have announced the dates earlier... The counting date is on May 4th, so what was the point of holding elections in Kerala so early? What is their intention behind holding elections on the same day in Kerala, Puducherry, and Assam?... We are confident that we will win, but the people of the country are seeing the biased attitude of the Election Commission...,” he added.
He further stated that his party was ready for elections irrespective of the dates announced by the poll body.
“We are going to win the election. India's strategy has been set up. And we are all ready for winning this election. But one thing as far as declaring election, even though they are giving only for five days, we are going to win the election. We have no problem,” he said.
Detailing the poll schedule while questioning the time available for campaigning, he stated, “but you can see the pattern of date which the election commission announced. Yesterday they declared election, and today they notified us. The first phase of election on April 9th, filing of nomination will be over on the 23rd of this month, 24th scrutiny, 26th withdrawal of nomination. After 26, four plus seven, 11 days campaign.”
“As far as Kerala is concerned, April first week is a holy week. The holiday week means, Good Friday is there. Nobody will do anything on Good Friday. Easter is the big festival. These festivals are natural, you have to see that. Among the 11 days, working days, two, three days will go for holidays. Then hardly seven, eight days for campaigning in this election for candidates,” the Congress MP questioned.
The Congress leader said the Election Commission could have announced the dates earlier if there was a need for an early election schedule.
Questioning the urgency behind placing Kerala in the first phase of polling, he added that the counting date is much later.
“Which is the date of counting? Fourth May. Then what is the urgency of putting Kerala in the first phase without giving sufficient time for candidates? And putting Kerala, Puducherry, Assam together, what is the intention behind that?” Venugopal questioned.
He also alleged that the Election Commission was not functioning as a neutral institution.
“The Election commission is completely losing that capacity as a neutral player. You can see 14 of our prime minister's programs over and on the 15th they announce the election, 16th notification comes,” he said.
Venugopal further stated that such tactics would not affect the Congress’ prospects in the election.
“They think that this type of techniques and tactics, because of these techniques and tactics, UDF is going to lose, and Congress is going to lose. This is their complete dream only. This is not going to happen. We are very much confident at any cost, whether they are not giving any time also, we are going to win the election,” he said.
“But the people of India are watching this. The tricks of the election commission. To restrict the campaign, people of India are watching. This I want to bring into the notice of the nation. That's all,” Venugopal said.
The Election Commission of India on Sunday announced the schedule for the Kerala Assembly election. Polling in the state will be held in a single phase on April 9 while the counting of votes is scheduled to take place on May 4.
