Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar confirmed Sunday that he instructed officials not to renew the visa of a senior United Nations representative, citing alleged anti-Israel bias.
The official in question, Jonathan Whittall, heads the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the West Bank and Gaza. He had been based in Jerusalem, working between the capital and the Gaza Strip.
“There is a limit to every manipulation,” Sa’ar wrote in a post on X, originally in Hebrew.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar stated that, based on recommendations from relevant authorities and due to what he described as consistently biased and hostile actions, he had decided not to renew the visa of Jonathan Whittall, head of the UN’s OCHA office in Israel. Sa’ar accused Whittall of distorting facts, submitting misleading reports, defaming Israel, and violating the UN’s neutrality principles.
Earlier on Sunday, an Israeli official informed The Times of Israel that Whittall is expected to end his assignment and depart the country soon.
The decision appears linked to recent remarks by Whittall, in which he described the conditions around aid distribution sites in Gaza as being “designed to kill,” adding, “What we are witnessing is carnage — hunger used as a weapon, forced displacement, and a death sentence for those merely trying to survive.”
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric revealed last week that Israel has declined to renew visas for the heads of all three major UN agencies operating in Gaza in recent months — including OCHA, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and UNRWA, the agency that provides aid to Palestinians.
Earlier this month, during a UN Security Council briefing, OCHA chief Tom Fletcher stated, “Israel is deliberately limiting or shortening visa durations in direct response to our efforts to protect civilians.”
He described the situation in Gaza as being “beyond words,” highlighting extreme food shortages and reports of Palestinians being shot while searching for food. He also accused Israel of neglecting its responsibilities under the Geneva Conventions to ensure the welfare of civilians under its control.
Fletcher further pointed out that 56% of denied entries into Gaza in 2025 involved emergency medical teams — critical frontline responders working to save lives.
In response, Israel’s mission to the United Nations stated it is currently “reviewing the matter” regarding Jonathan Whittall’s visa and criticized UN bodies like OCHA and UNRWA for what it described as a failure to remain neutral, citing alleged biases and links to Hamas.
Israel has long expressed strong criticism of UNRWA — even before Hamas’s October 7, 2023, terror attack in southern Israel — accusing the agency of cooperating with Hamas and promoting anti-Israel sentiment in its education programs, claims that UNRWA firmly denies.
