On Friday, ANPKaag hung his photo among his predecessors in Finance
NOS Nieuws·vandaag, 12.36
Former Minister of Finance and Foreign Affairs Sigrid Kaag begins her new role today as UN coordinator for humanitarian aid and reconstruction in Gaza. According to UN Secretary General Guterres, she is perfect for the job. She is fluent in Arabic and five other languages and has extensive experience as a former United Nations employee and diplomat, particularly in the Middle East.
Its first task is to mobilize humanitarian aid for Gaza’s more than 2 million residents. The vast majority were pushed by Israel into the far southern Gaza Strip. And even in the south they are not safe from Israeli bombs and rockets.
There is a serious shortage of food, drinking water and fuel. The population suffers from food shortages and diseases. “The situation he will find will be terrible,” says Lex Takkenberg, a former UNWRA employee. UNWRA is the United Nations organization that provides humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees, including in Gaza, shortly after the founding of the State of Israel.
Gun controls
For the aid to be successful, Kaag must win the trust of the Israelis. Aid is now seriously inadequate because Israel checks every truckload of aid that enters Gaza for weapons, ammunition and gasoline for Hamas. “It is huge bottleneck because the number of people available to Israel is limited,” says Takkenberg.
The UN wants to take full or partial control, so that more trucks can enter Gaza from Egypt. This requires a lot of diplomatic consultation. Takkenberg believes that Kaag, given his knowledge and experience, may be able to complete this assignment successfully.
Refugees are not safe even in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip:
“Where Should I Go Now”
Reconstruction is a different story. The war still rages. Israeli army and intelligence sources told the Guardian yesterday that the battle could last another year. “As long as the war continues, there is nothing to rebuild,” Takkenberg says. “And much of Gaza has been bombed to such an extent that a reconstruction operation will be a huge challenge. effort of tens of billions and many years.”
The huge quantities of building materials will have to come from Egypt or other countries. Israel will also have to collaborate in this. “I think it is Ms. Kaag’s job to design and negotiate the agreements that need to be made in this regard with Israel and the other parties involved.”
Mission Impossible
Diplomacy expert Robert van de Roer highlights another difficulty. Kaag was sent by the United Nations and relations between Israel and the United Nations have been difficult for decades. Statements by Kaag leader Guterres at the start of the war made matters worse.
The UN chief said after the October 7 Hamas attack that the attack “did not happen in a vacuum” and that he was deeply concerned about the “clear violations of international humanitarian law that we are witnessing in Gaza.” He also said the Palestinians suffer “56 years of suffocating occupation.” Guterres is therefore more or less persona non grata in Israel, Van der Roer told the NOS radio program yesterday Looking forward to tomorrow.
What is not an advantage in negotiations with Israel is, according to him, that Kaag is married to a Palestinian who served as deputy minister under the late PLO leader Yasser Arafat. “On the other hand, Kaag himself also said that Israel has the right to self-defense under international law. And Kaag also has the support of Washington, the great ally of the Israeli government.”
According to Van de Roer, the big question is what Kaag will do if Israel does not cooperate sufficiently in providing aid to Gazans. “This is really the delicate point for Kaag. Will he dare to take measures against Israel or another party that opposes him? In reality it is a question mission Impossible“He is definitely brave and I have even been told he has thought about whether he should do it.”
EPAAbdullah Fadil, UNICEF representative in Pakistan and Kaag employee in Syria
UNICEF’s representative in Pakistan, Abdullah Fadil, was Kaag’s right-hand man when he persuaded Syria to give up chemical weapons a decade ago. “He did it in a year. Considering the complex relationships and the fact that it was a war, it was a huge success,” says Fadil. He believes this is due to the trust she was able to build, transparency and sharing information with everyone as soon as it arrived. “All of this helped her.”
According to Fadil, the task facing her now is one of the most difficult she has ever had: due to the complexity of the relationship between Israel and the Palestinians, due to the humanitarian aid that must be delivered, the destruction that is taking place and the involvement of many countries involved in the conflict.
Fadil sees Kaag as the ideal person to take on this role. “He is a particularly qualified person, both from a professional and moral point of view. He has demonstrated that he knows how to be impartial and not to take a position on difficult issues, except perhaps when it comes to essential values that we know in the UN. So yes, I think he is the ideal person, even though this may be the most difficult task you have ever undertaken.
Kaag will submit the first report on his activities to the UN Security Council later this month.
2024-01-08 11:36:50
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