Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 23 September 2025
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade
Engagement with UNRWA Deputy Director John Whyte
2:00 am
Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent)
If it is okay, I will speak with the camera off.
I want to focus on something that has been discussed previously, and this is civilian deaths. More than 2,000 have been associated with the new distribution sites, which have very much been criticised as points of targeting. Will Mr. Whyte comment on how they have been used and the deaths associated with these distribution points?
Will Mr. Whyte comment on the specific targeting of UNRWA staff and infrastructure, specifically in terms of the impact of the legislation introduced by Israel which is, in addition to the blockade, an additional layer of blocking UNRWA-marked aid? Does this legislation create explicit and additional difficulties in terms of, for example, the capacity of UNRWA staff to engage with the Israeli military to try to create some guarantees of safety for the movement of individuals or for the specific sites where UNRWA is delivering support? I would appreciate if Mr. Whyte would speak to these issues.
Will Mr. Whyte speak more about water? We know food has been blockaded. Has access to water been affected and, if so, how? I wish to ask about the forced displacement from Gaza city. We are seeing the destruction of Gaza city. Is it correct to say that more than half of the remaining medical facilities are in Gaza city? How much of an exponential increase in the humanitarian crisis is likely with the targeting of Gaza city? I apologise for bunching all of my questions; it is in order that I can turn off my mic. Mr. Whyte mentioned robot attacks. Will he comment on how technologies have been specifically deployed with regard to what he has seen on the ground? What additional dangers does this create for civilians?
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