Director of Swiss development agency denied access to Gaza Strip
Patricia Danzi, the director of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), was refused access to the Gaza Strip on February 3 for reasons of security, the foreign ministry confirmed today.
As part of a wider visit to the Middle East which began on January 31, Danzi tried unsuccessfully to enter the Palestinian territory, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry told the Keystone-ATS news agency on Friday, confirming a report in the Le Temps newspaper.
Along with Maya Tissafi, the head of the foreign ministry’s Middle East and North Africa Division, Danzi had previously visited Egypt, Jordan, Israel and the West Bank. Arriving on February 3 at the Rafah crossing on Gaza’s southern border with Egypt, the pair were unable to enter the Palestinian enclave due to lack of authorisation, the spokesman said.
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“It wasn’t for lack of urging on our part with Israel,” Nicolas Bideau, head of communications at the foreign ministry, told Le Temps. “We knew it would be delicate and we wanted to stay out of the media spotlight. But we have to admit that the security threat was credible,” he added.
‘Proper use of our funds’
The aim of this trip undertaken by the two officials was to gain an overview of the humanitarian situation and to observe at close quarters how aid is coordinated and delivered. “Patricia Danzi wanted to go to Gaza to check that our humanitarian funds are being used properly and to certify that everything is being done in accordance with our standards,” explained Bideau.
Switzerland provides CHF90 million ($100 million) in funding for various humanitarian operations in the region, including programmes run by the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Red Crescent and Médecins du Monde. The foreign ministry mission ultimately met these main partners outside of the Gaza Strip.
According to the office of Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, Swiss diplomats are not the only ones who have been denied entry to the Gaza Strip. This would appear to be the general rule for European representatives.
On Monday meanwhile, Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), announced that Israel had likewise forbidden him to enter the Gaza Strip.
Adapted from French by DeepL/kc
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