Jordan's Muhannad Hadi appointed as humanitarian coordinator for Palestine

The United Nations announced on Friday that Jordanian Muhannad Hadi has been appointed Deputy Special Coordinator and Resident Coordinator for the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO). 

Hadi will succeed Jamie McGoldrick, who temporarily held the position from December, after replacing Lynn Hastings, who left her post after Israeli authorities refused to renew her visa.

While the reasons behind McGoldrick leaving the post now are unknown, the former coordinator had pushed back on Israel’s claims that over 1,000 trucks had entered Gaza in the last few days, with only around 800 collected on the Palestinian side.

The Israeli military said on Tuesday the highest number of trucks carrying life-saving aid entered the Gaza Strip.

Humanitarian agencies have been struggling to get food and medical supplies into the enclave due to Israeli red tape, with the number of deliveries being delayed and decreasing, and aid being jeopardised by safety concerns amid gunfire and looting.

Israel had dismissed the claim, accusing the UN of “lying” and claiming more than 16,000 aid trucks had entered Gaza since 7 October.

McGoldrick also said the deconfliction system, where humanitarians shared their coordinates with both Palestine and Israel, was "consistently inaccurate", and he had raised these and other operational concerns with the Israeli military.

An Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Bala, Gaza has struck a convoy of World Central Kitchen aid workers, resulting in the tragic loss of seven lives - including nationals from Australia, Poland, the UK, a dual US-Canada citizen, and Palestine.

The attack drew immediate condemnation… pic.twitter.com/Fk3ZT99Eqs

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) April 2, 2024

The outgoing coordinator had also called for a direct hotline between the UN and Israeli forces fighting in Gaza to combat mistrust and deliver aid safely and effectively. This was in response to the World Central Kitchen attack, where a targeted Israeli airstrike killed seven aid workers, triggering a worldwide outcry.

Prior to his appointment as aid coordinator for Palestine, Hadi held the position of Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, as well as serving as World Food Programme (WFP) Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and Eastern Europe.

The Jordanian's appointment comes as over 33,000 Palestinians have died since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza. Although Israel has temporarily opened the Erez crossing to allow more aid to directly reach the north of Gaza, until Israel lifts its blockade, hundreds of trucks will still remain out of reach to the starving people of Gaza.