Israeli officials have signaled they want the United Nations to remain the key avenue for humanitarian deliveries in Gaza, the deputy head of the World Food Program said on Friday, noting the work of a controversial US aid group was not discussed.
"They wanted the UN to continue to be the main track for delivery, especially should there be a cease fire, and they asked us to be ready to scale up," Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the UN food agency, told reporters on Friday after visiting Gaza and Israel last week.
The US, Egypt and Qatar are trying to broker a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza.
Hamas said on Wednesday that the flow of aid was one of the sticking points.
Israel and the United States have publicly urged the UN to work through the new Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, but the UN has refused, questioning the group's neutrality and accusing the distribution model of militarizing aid and forcing displacement.
Skau said he met with Israeli authorities at different levels last week and that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation "did not come up in those conversations."
"I think there were rumors of the UN being pushed out, but it was very clear in my engagement that they want the UN to continue to be the main track in delivery," Skau said.
DEATHS
Since Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade on Gaza on May 19, allowing limited UN deliveries to resume.
The GHF launched its operation, using private US security and logistics firms to transport aid to distribution hubs, a week later.
The United Nations human rights office said on Friday that it had recorded 615 deaths near GHF sites and 183 deaths "presumably on the route of aid convoys" operated by the UN and other relief groups.
The GHF has repeatedly said there have been no deaths at any of its aid distribution sites. The group said on Friday that it has so far delivered more than 70 million meals in Gaza.
The US State Department has approved $30 million in funding for the GHF, which touts its model as "reinventing aid delivery in war zones."
Israel and the United States have accused Hamas of stealing aid from the UN-led operations, which the group denies.
Throughout the conflict, the United Nations has described its humanitarian operation in Gaza as opportunistic - facing problems with Israel's military operation, access restrictions by Israel into and throughout Gaza, and looting by armed gangs.
But the UN has said its aid distribution system works, and that was particularly proven during a two-month ceasefire, which Israel abandoned in mid-March.
The UN said it got 600-700 trucks of aid a day into Gaza during the truce and has stressed then when people know there is a steady flow of aid, the looting subsides.
