Tom Fletcher must resign. The UN’s under-secretary for humanitarian aid, tasked with supposed impartiality and accuracy in global crises, has proven himself yet again unworthy of the post he holds. His recent inflammatory accusations against Israel, specifically that it is subjecting Gaza to “forced starvation,” a war crime, are not only unsubstantiated but dangerously irresponsible.
In a BBC interview published on Friday, Fletcher claimed that Israel is deliberately starving the population of Gaza, implying intentional war crimes. “It is classified as a war crime,” he said, adding that courts and history will ultimately judge. These are no small words. They carry weight. They can inflame conflict. They can distort international discourse. And they must be based on facts, not ideological fervor or personal agendas.
Fletcher is not new to exaggeration. Just last week, he was forced to walk back a false and hysterical claim that 14,000 babies could die within 48 hours if aid was not allowed into Gaza. The UN itself later clarified that the figure, taken from a year-long projection on malnutrition, was grossly misrepresented. Fletcher admitted they were “desperate to get that aid in,” and thus loosened their standards of accuracy. That is not desperation. That is deception.
Even as Israel has opened aid corridors and worked with the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to allow supplies through, Fletcher has refused to acknowledge any progress. Nor has he uttered a single word about the very real obstacles posed by Hamas. The terrorist group routinely hijacks aid convoys, reroutes them to its own warehouses, and sells food at extortionate prices to a starving population. This is a humanitarian catastrophe created by Hamas, but Fletcher has yet to acknowledge it.
Instead, he places the entirety of the blame on Israel. No mention of the Israeli hostages still languishing in Hamas captivity. No recognition of the terror group’s abuse of humanitarian infrastructure. No condemnation of Hamas’s use of civilian shields. Just relentless, blinkered criticism of the only side in this war that is both a democracy and a UN member state.
It is political theater at its finest, and another example of the utter uselessness of the United Nations.
Fletcher even went so far in his BBC interview as to call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “disavow” the words of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who suggested that people in Gaza might be inclined to relocate to other countries. That comment, crude and unhelpful as it may be, is now used by the humanitarian aid under-secretary as “evidence” of a policy of forced displacement, another supposed war crime. But where is the same righteous fury for Hamas’s actual, documented war crimes? Where is Fletcher’s voice when it comes to the 1,200 Israelis and others butchered on October 7, or the hostages still being tortured in Gaza?
Tom Fletcher's loose relationship with the truth
Perhaps most farcical of all was Fletcher’s recent claim to CNN that “10,000 aid trucks” are “cleared and ready to go” at the Gaza border. When even veteran journalist Christiane Amanpour blinked in disbelief, Fletcher doubled down. Israeli defense officials swiftly responded.
“There are no 10,000 trucks waiting to go into Gaza,” they said. “What there are, are hundreds of trucks’ worth of aid the UN hasn’t picked up from the Gazan side... after we gave you plenty of routes to safely distribute the aid.”
Fletcher is not just wrong – he is dangerously wrong. This is a man with a global platform, overseeing one of the most sensitive humanitarian crises in the world. He cannot afford to be loose with his words or misleading with his facts. And yet, this is now a pattern. A pattern of blame without balance. A pattern of distortion. A pattern of omission where Hamas is concerned and vilification where Israel is involved.
The UN activity cannot be led by someone who treats truth as negotiable and facts as optional. The stakes are simply too high. Fletcher’s continued presence damages the credibility of the world body, undermines its impartiality, and emboldens those who exploit humanitarian crises for political gain.
Tom Fletcher should step down. His conduct has crossed the line from negligence to active misinformation. The UN cannot afford to be represented by someone who sows confusion, inflames tensions, and selectively sees injustice.
Tom Fletcher must resign.