The United Arab Emirates is pausing humanitarian aid efforts through the maritime corridor pending further safety guarantees and a full investigation, a UAE official told Reuters.
The UAE has been the main financier for aid through a maritime corridor to Gaza. The missions were arranged by World Central Kitchen, the organisation whose aid workers were killed in an Israeli airstrike earlier this week.
A World Central Kitchen shipment arrives to Gaza by sea.Credit: AP
It comes as Anera, a Washington-based aid group, said it was taking the “unprecedented” step of pausing its operations in Gaza.
The group had been helping to provide about 150,000 meals daily.
“The escalating risks associated with aid delivery leave us with no choice,” it said in a statement.
“The killing of WCK humanitarians, occurring less than a month after the still-unexplained killing of Anera staff member Mousa Shawwa, alongside the loss of numerous other aid workers and their families, has led our team to conclude that delivering aid safely is no longer feasible.”
Shawwa, a 41-year-old support coordinator, was killed, along with family members, by an Israeli airstrike on March 8.
“For the safety of our staff and their families, we are suspending Anera’s work in Gaza.”
with Reuters