The UN agency for children has voiced strong concerns over a new Israeli-US proposal to control aid delivery in Gaza.

James Elder, spokesperson for Unicef, said on Saturday that the draft plan “appears likely to exacerbate the ongoing suffering of children and families in the Gaza Strip.”

Speaking on behalf of the agency, Elder said the criticism extends to a newly proposed institution linked to the same strategy.

Aid groups have consistently opposed any framework that puts Israel—the occupying power—in charge of aid distribution.

“Using humanitarian aid as bait to force people to flee, especially from the north to the south, will leave them with an impossible choice: between displacement and death,” Elder said.

He added that there is a far simpler and more effective solution: “Lift the siege and allow humanitarian aid to enter to save lives.”