'Spreading lies about Israel': Foreign Minister Sa'ar cancels UN official’s residency visa
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced on Sunday that the Israeli residency visa of Jonathan Whittall, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the Palestinian territories and Gaza, would not be renewed.
Sa’ar explained: “Israel will not work with someone who spreads lies about it.”
Whittall is effectively the UN official responsible for coordinating humanitarian aid in Gaza.
Sa’ar also wrote on his Twitter account: “There’s a limit to every provocation. Due to a biased and hostile attitude towards Israel, which distorted reality, presented false reports, defamed Israel, and even violated the UN's own neutrality rules – and in accordance with the recommendation of professional officials – I instructed not to extend the residency visa of Jonathan Whittall, head of OCHA in Israel.”
Eri Kaneko, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, stated that visas for UN staff have recently been renewed for shorter-than-usual periods and that access requests to Gaza have been denied for multiple agencies.
He further added, “Last week, we were informed that the visa of our current office head, Jonathan Whittall, would not be extended by Israeli authorities beyond August. This came immediately after he made remarks during a press briefing about starving people who were killed while trying to reach food.”
Kan.org.il is the Hebrew news website of the The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation
