UN Chief Urges US to Lift Sanctions on Palestinian NGOs

UNRWA teams in Gaza City continue to screen children for malnutrition in Gaza, where a UN-backed food monitoring group has raised alarms about famine.

Sanctions imposed by the United States on three prominent Palestinian human rights groups are “completely unacceptable and should be withdrawn,” UN human rights chief Volker Türk said on Friday.

The measures, announced on Thursday, target Al-Haq, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), and Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights over their support for the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. These follow earlier sanctions in June against the Palestinian NGO Addameer.

“For decades, these NGOs have carried out vital human rights work, particularly on accountability for violations,” Türk stressed, adding that their efforts are “all the more important when international humanitarian and human rights laws are being systematically violated in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.”

He urged the US to immediately withdraw its sanctions, including those previously imposed on the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, as well as on several ICC judges and prosecutors. Türk warned the measures would have a “chilling effect” not only on civil society in Palestine and Israel but potentially worldwide.

Meanwhile, the Israeli offensive to gain full control of Gaza City intensified on Friday, causing more civilian casualties and destroying facilities essential for survival, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said at a press briefing.

Israeli forces also struck a high-rise building allegedly used to launch attacks, damaging nearby tents sheltering displaced people, according to initial information from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Nearly 41,000 people have been displaced from Gaza City since 14 August, Dujarric noted, adding that many cannot afford to flee south due to overcrowded sites and transport costs of up to $1,000.

World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the offensive has fuelled famine, calling it “a catastrophe that Israel could have prevented and could stop at any time.”

“Starvation of civilians as a method of war is a war crime that can never be tolerated. Doing so in one conflict risks legitimising its use in future conflicts,” he said.

Since October 2023, at least 370 people have died from malnutrition in Gaza, including more than 300 in the past two months, the UN health agency reported. Lack of food, clean water, and cramped conditions have also weakened immune systems, leading to more than 100 cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome, including 11 deaths last month.

“The most intolerable part of this man-made disaster is that it could be stopped right now,” Tedros stressed. “People are starving to death while food sits on trucks a short distance away. And for what? The starvation of Gaza’s people will not make Israel safer, nor will it secure the release of hostages.”

While WHO has supported the medical evacuation of over 7,600 patients, more than 15,000 others urgently need specialised care, including 3,800 children. Over 700 people have already died waiting for evacuation, Tedros said, urging countries to accept these critically ill patients and calling on Israel to allow treatment in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

“Above all, we call on the Government of Israel to end this inhumane war,” he said. “If it will not, I call on its allies to use their influence to stop it.”