UNICEF today announced it has launched an internal investigation after Israel decided to suspend the entry of humanitarian aid sent by the UN agency from Egypt to the Gaza Strip, alleging an attempted tobacco smuggling operation.
UNICEF “was informed by Israeli authorities that packages of tobacco and nicotine were found in a shipment of hygiene kits being transported to Gaza by a commercial carrier,” the UN agency said in a statement, adding that it had “immediately launched a full internal investigation into the matter.”
“Despite the preventive measures we have implemented, attempts to smuggle these items in humanitarian organisation shipments do occasionally occur,” the agency acknowledged, affirming it maintains a “zero tolerance policy” on smuggling.
Israeli authorities announced on Tuesday that they had foiled an attempt to smuggle tobacco and nicotine through the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip, where humanitarian aid from Egypt is inspected before being transported into Palestinian territory.
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COGAT — the defence ministry body responsible for civilian affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories — then announced the suspension of UNICEF-coordinated humanitarian aid shipments from Egypt, to remain in force “until the agency provides the findings of a full investigation as well as an official response on the matter.”
Kerem Shalom is currently the only humanitarian aid crossing point into the Gaza Strip, where the humanitarian situation “remains desperate,” according to the UN, more than five months after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas entered into force on October 10, 2025. Israel continues to control access to the territory, which has been under siege since the start of the war triggered by the Hamas attack on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023.
