GAZA – The Israeli military detained a convoy of United Nations vehicles for several hours in northern Gaza on Monday. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement they were acting “following intelligence that a number of Palestinian suspects were present in the convoy” and delayed it to question them. The IDF said the convoy was not involved in the transport of polio vaccines but was being used instead to exchange UN personnel. A military official later told CNN the suspects and the convoy had been released.

Philippe Lazzarini, chief of the UNWRA – the UN’s main agency for Palestinian humanitarian relief – said the convoy was stopped at gunpoint after the Wadi Gaza checkpoint and held for more than eight hours despite “prior detailed coordination.” During that time, bulldozers caused heavy damage to the UN armored vehicles, he said.

In a post on X, Lazzarini said the convoy contained national and international staff members who were meant to be rolling out the UN’s polio vaccination campaign for children in Gaza City and northern Gaza. He added the agency could not confirm whether they could continue their work on Tuesday. “This significant incident is the latest in a series of violations against UN staff including shootings at convoys and arrests by the Israeli Armed Forces at checkpoints despite prior notification,” Lazzarini said. (CNN)…[+]