Israel has refused to renew the visa of a senior United Nations official who oversees humanitarian affairs in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, the country’s foreign minister said on Sunday, further straining the already tense ties between the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the organization.
Jonathan Whittall, the acting head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Jerusalem, which plays a major role in managing the entry of desperately needed aid into the territory, will not be allowed to continue working in Israel, Gideon Saar, the minister, wrote on social media.
Mr. Saar cited what he called Mr. Whittall’s “biased and hostile conduct against Israel” as the grounds for the decision. Andrea De Domenico, Mr. Whittall’s predecessor, also had to leave Israel when the country’s previous foreign minister refused to allow him to continue working there.
The Israeli authorities had indicated that Mr. Whittall’s visa would not be extended beyond August, according to the U.N. agency known as OCHA. It said the decision had come after remarks that he had made about Gazans being killed while trying to get food at aid distribution sites.
