Israel has refused to renew the visa for Jonathan Whittall, the senior U.N. aid official for the occupied Palestinian territories, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Sunday, reports The New York Times.
Saar cited "biased and hostile conduct against Israel" by Whittall as the reason.
Eri Kaneko, spokesperson for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said visas for U.N. staff were recently renewed for shorter periods than usual and access requests to Gaza were denied for multiple agencies.
Kaneko said permits for Palestinian staff to enter East Jerusalem were also withheld.
"Last week, it was indicated to us that our current head of office, Jonathan Whittall, won't have his visa extended by Israeli authorities beyond August. This came immediately after remarks he made at a press briefing about starving people being killed while trying to reach food," Kaneko said.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.