Israel will not extend the visa of the UN humanitarian coordinator in the occupied territories
Israel will not extend the visa of the top UN humanitarian aid official for the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, a spokesman for the organization announced on Friday in New York. Canadian Lynn Hastings, a veteran UN official, has been deputy special coordinator for the Middle East peace process and UN humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territories for nearly three years, with her headquarters shared between Jerusalem and the New York headquarters. according to his profile on the social network Linkedin.
“We were informed by the Israeli authorities that they would not extend Ms. Hastings’ visa beyond the planned date of the end of this month,” UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric told the press, emphasizing that this was a rule of the organization Staff may not exceed the validity period of their visa in any country. Dujarric, who recalled Secretary General António Guterres’ utmost confidence in the official, did not specify whether she would be replaced.
In late October, Israel’s Foreign Ministry accused Hastings of failing to be impartial and objective in a social media post, which the organization immediately rejected. In the same days, both the UN ambassador and the foreign minister accused the UN of bias and called its response to the October 7 Hamas attack in which 1,200 people died “shameful.” They also demanded the resignation of the Secretary General. “Therefore, Israel has decided to individually review visas issued to UN representatives,” the spokesman said today.