The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)
Statement on the Gaza aid blockade and the UN2720 Mechanism
Statement attributable to Jorge Moreira da Silva, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNOPS Executive Director.
After over 11 weeks of complete blockade, the Israeli authorities have allowed the UN and partners a brief window to resume delivery of aid into Gaza.
This is a drop in the ocean of what is urgently needed.
After 11 weeks of blockade, a narrow window has opened for aid to reach #Gaza. Fuel is moving. Bakeries, hospitals, ambulances are starting again. The #UN2720 Mechanism, mandated by the Security Council, can scale this. What’s needed now is political will, not new structures. pic.twitter.com/0qJEtCrjwE
— Jorge Moreira da Silva (@UNOPS_Chief) May 23, 2025
UNOPS is working with our sister agencies in Gaza to supply fuel to bakeries that are now restarting with the small amount of incoming wheatflour. It powers hospital generators. It moves ambulances.
To do this, our team run convoys to destroyed areas and evacuation zones. Operating at great risk to access our fuel storage tanks.
As the Secretary-General said today, the UN is ready to scale up our life-saving operation in Gaza and respond to the needs of people, wherever they are.
We have presented our plan to do this.
A plan that is rooted in the non-negotiable humanitarian principles and built on accountability, transparency and trust.
The UN 2720 Mechanism - that UNOPS manages- is there to expedite, streamline and accelerate the delivery of aid into Gaza.
It is recognised by the key stakeholders and broader international community.
It is mandated by the Security Council.
Since the beginning of its implementation almost 1 year ago, this mechanism has reduced bureaucracy and fragmentation and improved efficiency, transparency and predictability. The problem was never of a logistics nature, but rather a matter of political will and security.
And precisely when these security conditions improved, the Mechanism worked effectively during the first phase of the ceasefire. It worked effectively to temporarily alleviate the suffering of the population bringing aid to those in need.
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We cannot make aid conditional on political and military aims.
We can not turn starvation into a bargaining chip.
So, let’s get things done with what works based on transparency & accountability.
Rather than solutions that risks undermining the UN Security Council’s authority and fragmenting the response.
We and our humanitarian partners have the expertise, distribution mechanism and monitoring systems to deliver aid at scale across Gaza.
We just need the political willingness and the trust for it to work.
Let us do what we are here to do - to ensure rapid, unhindered, and safe humanitarian relief for all civilians in need.
