Exclusive: Israel to boot UN aid coordinator for Palestinian territories

Israel has formally requested the replacement of the United Nations' top humanitarian official for the Palestinian territories, marking an escalation in its relationship with the global body as the U.N. grapples with what is proving to be the deadliest humanitarian crisis in its history, according to three sources. The Israeli government informed the U.N. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland earlier this month in writing that it will not renew the visa for Lynn Hastings, the U.N. resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, when it expires this month. It has urged the U.N. to appoint a replacement that can earn the trust of the Israeli government. The U.N. appears likely to yield to Israel’s demand and has already begun a search for Hastings’ replacement, according to two well-placed sources familiar with the situation. A spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres did not respond to a request for comment on Israel’s demand, or on whether it plans to comply. Israel’s mission to the U.N. declined to comment. Hastings did not respond to a request for comment sent to her work email address. The move comes at a time when Israel has been directing fierce public criticism of Hastings, who has called Israel to task for its withholding of water, fuel, and food into Gaza, and the displacement of more than 1 million Palestinians in northern Gaza. Last month, the Israeli foreign minister informed the U.N. that Hastings no longer enjoyed the trust and confidence of Israeli authorities required to carry out her duties. Israel has accused her of failing to sufficiently draw attention to Hamas’ Oct. 7 slaughter of Israeli civilians, or its kidnapping of more than 200 Israelis, including children and the elderly, in her public statements, while casting most of the blame for the humanitarian crisis on the Israeli government. Israel has also faulted Hastings for vowing to deliver humanitarian aid in northern Gaza, despite Israel’s call for the evacuation of the area to give its forces a free hand to root out Hamas. Hastings enjoys a reputation among U.N.-based diplomats and officials as a straight shooter who has provided a balanced account of conditions in Gaza for Palestinians, while drawing attention to the need for Hamas to release hostages. During an Oct. 24 briefing to the U.N. Security Council, Hastings welcomed the initial release by Hamas of two Israeli hostages and called for the unconditional release of the more than 200 remaining hostages. Israel and Hamas have since struck a deal on an exchange. As of Nov. 30, Hamas had released 105 hostages while Israel released 240 Palestinians. She also criticized Hamas for indiscriminately launching rocket attacks against Israeli civilians, while providing a harrowing picture of conditions on the ground, where Israeli bombardment and restrictions on food, water, and fuel, have severely strained the U.N.’s ability to provide aid to a population of more than 2 million people in Gaza. “Without fuel, our humanitarian operations will stop. No fuel means no hospitals functioning, no desalination of water,” she said. Israel doesn’t think Hastings has done enough to highlight Hamas’ crimes, and has taken issue with Hastings’ interview with the BBC, during which she expressed concern about the inability to get fuel into Gaza, citing Israel’s prohibition on fuel imports on the grounds it could be diverted to Hamas. Relations, long fraught between the U.N. and Israel, have grown increasingly strained since Israel launched its military offensive against Hamas, resulting in the killing of more than 100 U.N. workers, the largest number of U.N. staffers killed in the organization’s history. On Oct. 24, Israel’s U.N. ambassador Gilad Erdan called for Guterres’ resignation after he said that Hamas’ slaughter of Israelis on Oct. 7 did not occur in a “vacuum,” suggesting that the suppression of Palestinian rights had contributed to the radicalization of Palestinian militants. Two days later, the Israeli Foreign Ministry released a video on the social media site X, formally known as Twitter, accusing Hastings of bias against Israel, and criticizing her for failing to point out that Hamas has stockpiled massive amounts of fuel that could be used to run Palestinian hospitals. The video also suggested that her criticism of Israel’s call for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to leave their homes in northern Gaza and flee south aligned her with Hamas. “According to UN ethics, she is supposed to be impartial and objective, but unfortunately she is neither,” they wrote on the platform. “Hastings’ dangerous rhetoric endangers innocent Israeli and Palestinian civilians.” The U.N. did not respond to a request for comment, but directed Devex to an Oct. 27 quote from the U.N.’s chief spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, saying that the “secretary-general has full confidence in the impartiality of Lynn Hastings and the work that she does, as of all his other senior representatives on the ground.”