GENEVA, May 9, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - It is "very difficult" to imagine any 
operation to deliver humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Strip without the 
UN agency for Palestinian refugees, a UNRWA spokeswoman said on Friday.

The United States on Thursday announced a new foundation to provide aid to 
Gaza, sidelining the United Nations as Israel's two-month blockade brings 
severe shortages to the war-battered Palestinian territory.

"It is impossible to replace UNRWA in a place like Gaza. We are the largest 
humanitarian organisation," the agency's spokeswoman Juliette Touma told a 
press conference in Geneva, when asked about that proposal.

Little is known for sure about the body proposed by the United States, but a 
listing in Switzerland showed the establishment in February of the "Gaza 
Humanitarian Foundation".

"We have the largest reach, whether it is through our teams that work across 
the Gaza Strip, where we have more than 10,000 people who work to deliver 
whatever is left of the supplies," said Touma, speaking from Amman, Jordan.

"We also manage shelters for the displaced families."

"It is very, very difficult to imagine any humanitarian operation without 
UNRWA."

Israel has blockaded Gaza for two months, leading UN agencies and other 
humanitarian groups to warn of dwindling supplies of everything from fuel to 
medicine to the territory of 2.4 million Palestinians.

- Aid 'bargaining chip' -

Israel denies a humanitarian crisis is unfolding in the Gaza Strip, where it 
plans to expand military operations to force Hamas to free hostages held 
there since the Iran-backed group's unprecedented October 2023 attack sparked 
the war.

Israel, which accuses Hamas of diverting aid, is reportedly aiming to shut 
down the existing UN-led aid distribution system in Gaza, forcing all 
deliveries to go through Israeli hubs.

Such a proposal is widely criticised by the UN and humanitarian 
organisations.

"We'll only participate in any aid operation that respects our humanitarian 
principles of independence, humanity and impartiality," UN spokesman Rolando 
Gomez told the press conference.

James Elder, spokesman for the UN children's agency UNICEF, said Israel's 
plan would only increase the suffering of youngsters in the Gaza Strip.

"It's dangerous to ask civilians to go into militarised zones to collect 
rations; it further entrenches forced displacement for political and military 
purposes; and humanitarian aid should never be used as a bargaining chip," he 
said.

Those most at risk, who are unable to travel to such zones, would "face 
horrendous challenges" in accessing aid as a result, Elder added.

"And the use of humanitarian aid as a bait to force displacement, especially 
from the north to the south, will create this impossible choice between 
displacement and death."