Gaza Herald — Exclusive sources have revealed to Gaza Herald that Israel has turned the Kerem Shalom crossing, Gaza’s only partially functioning gateway for humanitarian access, into a dangerous trap for international agency staff, particularly Palestinian employees working with United Nations organizations.
According to information obtained by Gaza Herald, Israel has deliberately misled international agencies by issuing official entry permits for staff to cross through Kerem Shalom and other Israeli-controlled checkpoints. Once these individuals arrive at the crossing, however, Israeli forces have detained or disappeared several of them under vague “security” pretexts.
According to exclusive information obtained by the Gaza Herald, one such case involves Raed al-Afifi, a long-serving UNICEF employee. Despite holding a United Nations passport and possessing full Israeli coordination and entry permits, al-Afifi was abducted earlier today by Israeli forces and has since been forcibly disappeared. His family, colleagues, and other UN staff have received no verified information regarding his whereabouts or condition.
Multiple UN staff members told Gaza Herald that this case is not isolated. They describe a growing atmosphere of fear and anger among Palestinian employees of international organisations who say they are being targeted by Israel for their nationality, while international agencies , including the UN , have so far remained silent.
Sources within the humanitarian community say Israel’s strategy aims to intimidate and eliminate Palestinian professionals working in key humanitarian roles in Gaza, in order to replace them with foreign personnel sympathetic to Israeli narratives or less likely to challenge its conduct.
A UN employee, speaking on condition of anonymity, said:
“Israel is systematically targeting our Palestinian colleagues. These are people with UN badges, diplomatic papers, and coordination, yet they vanish at crossings. The silence from UN leadership is shameful.”
Families of the detained aid workers have expressed outrage at the failure of international agencies to provide transparency or protection, accusing them of “complicity through silence”.
Humanitarian organisations operating in Gaza continue to face unprecedented restrictions under Israeli control, with aid convoys blocked, communications monitored, and staff subjected to harassment and detention. The disappearance of UN staff at Kerem Shalom has now raised grave concerns about Israel’s deliberate attempt to dismantle the humanitarian presence in Gaza by terrorising its local workforce.
As of today, UNICEF and the United Nations have not issued any public statements about Raed al-Afifi’s disappearance or about the escalating threats faced by their Palestinian employees.
