The United Nations and Gaza’s transitional administration issued urgent calls for increased aid and reconstruction on Friday.
Sigrid Kaag, a member of the Gaza Board of Peace and UN senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, said she is focused on a two-state solution alongside Israel’s security and added that a deal is needed to disarm Hamas, allowing a stabilizing force to enter Gaza.
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Sigrid Kaag, United Nations senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, attends a Security Council meeting at the United Nations headquarters, 2024. Credit: Julia Nikhinson/AP
Sigrid Kaag, United Nations senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, attends a Security Council meeting at the United Nations headquarters, 2024. Credit: Julia Nikhinson/AP
Kaag criticized conditional aid, saying, “Aid has never been negotiable… And we’re now back to nickel-and-diming forms of assistance, almost conditional on good behavior. But a civilian population gets punished or risks being punished for the lack of political progress. The population is entitled and they have rights and they risk being forgotten in schemes, in PowerPoints, in grandiose plans. If we talk about trust and agency of a population, be it Palestinians in Gaza, they have been forgotten by the world.”
Indonesia’s former foreign minister asked whether it was naive to expect the international effort would ultimately lead to a two-state solution, noting that Indonesia is sending 8,000 troops to Gaza in support. Kaag said, “Is it naive or not? I don’t know… It’s an interesting and courageous choice by Indonesia.”
The panel, held at the Munich Security Conference, also included Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the Red Cross, and Masud Bolos, Trump’s envoy to Africa and the Middle East. Britain’s former prime minister Tony Blair did not attend.
The National Committee for the Administration of Gaza said full administrative, civilian, and police control is essential to deliver aid effectively, adding that their priorities include guaranteeing aid flow, advancing reconstruction, and creating conditions for Palestinian unity.
National Committee for the Administration of Gaza statement on Saturday. Posted on X @NCAG