UN Gaza Relief Chief Called on Carpet After Comments on Israeli Air Strikes

GAZA (REUTERS/Hamodia) —
Matthias Schmale, UNRWA’s Gaza director, in Gaza City May 18, 2021. (REUTERS/Mohammed Shana)

The Gaza director of the U.N. agency that deals with Palestinian refugees has been called in for consultation with his bosses in Yerushalayim after angering Palestinians with comments they said favored Israel during last month’s fighting.

Protests have erupted in the territory over the comments by UNRWA Gaza chief Matthias Schmale in an interview with Israel’s N12 news on May 22, in which he said he did not dispute Israel’s assertion that its air strikes were “precise.”

Hamas, the Islamist terror group that rules the enclave has ridiculed him as “a spokesman for the Israeli military.”

Schmale, based in Gaza, apologized for his remarks in which he was commenting on the ferocity of the air strikes and said: “… precision was there but there was unacceptable and unbearable loss of life on the civilian side.”

Sami Mshasha, UNRWA’s spokesman in Yerushalayim, said on Wednesday Schmale and his deputy had been “called in for consultation and discussion at the Jerusalem headquarters over the latest developments in Gaza.”

Another official told Reuters that Deputy Commissioner-General Leni Stenseth would temporarily lead the Gaza team.

“In the coming few weeks, UNRWA will review the emergency response mechanism in Gaza to determine lessons and conclusions to improve UNRWA’s response and performance during times of crisis and emergency,” Mshasha said in a statement.

In a statement on May 25, Schmale said in apology: “There is no justification whatsoever for killing civilians.” He said: “Military precision and sophistication are never a justification for war.”

Israel’s foreign ministry has said its forces acted “in accordance with international law, in defending our citizens from Hamas’ indiscriminate rocket fire,” and that it takes every possible precaution to minimize harm to civilians.

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