Israel denies visa to top UN official as ceasefire with Hamas ends

TEL AVIV – The government of Israel has now denied a visa to a top United Nations official as the ceasefire with Hamas ended on Friday and a fresh wave of violence erupted in the region.

The administration has clarified the United Nations that it will not renew a visa for Canadian-born Lynn Hastings, the top UN humanitarian aid official for the Palestinian Gaza Strip and West Bank.

The development was confirmed by a UN spokesperson on Friday,  who said the visa of Canadian-born UN official was not renewed though he has served as the deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process and UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory for nearly three years and thus has tons of experience under her belt.

Stephane Dujarric highlighted that UN staff does not overstay their visas in any country, but said Hastings enjoyed the full confidence of Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres; it was not confirmed whether Hastings would be replaced or not.

The visa denial comes as a spokesperson for Israel’s Foreign Ministry alleged the United Nations of being biased, terming the UN’s response to the October 7 attack as “disgraceful”.

“That’s why Israel decided to check on – one by one – the visas that are issued to representatives of the UN,” the spokesperson said.

At the end of October, Israel’s Foreign Ministry also accused Hastings of failing to be impartial and objective, though the claims were rejected by the United Nations which has been stressing that the Israeli authorities should allow humanitarian aid to be provided to the people of Gaza.

On the other hand, UN spokesperson Dujarric said that the personal attacks against the UN official were utterly unacceptable and put people’s lives at risk.

The violence that erupted on October 7th has shaken the international community. As of now, over 15,000 people have been killed in the fighting and the death toll of children who lost lives in the battle has crossed 8,000.

The rights groups are calling on both sides to exercise restraint though Israel has started bombing Palestine again as the ceasefire brokered by Qatar ended on Friday.