Suzanna Tkalec was appointed in early 2025 as the UN’s Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory – the UN’s most senior Gaza-based role, which involves negotiating access with Israeli authorities on behalf of UN agencies and the wider humanitarian community.
Eleven aid workers currently or recently involved in the Gaza response – five of them in senior roles – spoke to The New Humanitarian about Tkalec. They had similar concerns: She has allowed Israeli authorities to manipulate the aid response; failed to push back against growing restrictions; uncritically repeated Israeli talking points; and offended Palestinian colleagues and community members, including by blaming them for aid shortages.
… News of the agreement prompted some aid workers to send complaints to Tom Fletcher, the UN’s top humanitarian official, according to the UN official who spoke to The New Humanitarian.
“The more I think of it, the more sick it is,” the official said. “I am appalled that she has not been removed.”
A spokesperson for the UN’s emergency aid coordination body, OCHA, which is led by Fletcher, declined to comment on personnel issues, citing security considerations. “We stand behind our team on the ground as they work in extraordinarily difficult conditions,” the spokesperson said.
Continue reading at https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/investigations/2025/10/03/top-un-official-gaza-accused-serving-israeli-interests