Israel detains UN official at Ben Gurion airport

The UN Assistant Secretary-General for Security and Safety  was detainedby Israel upon  his arrival at Lod Airport (Ben Gurion) in an incident described  by Israeli websites as provoking great diplomatic embarrassment.

Israel's Shin Bet (Shin Bet) detained Gil Micho, a high-ranking Canadian official, for 45 minutes on Tuesday morning  for a visit he made to Gaza in 2022, according  to the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

The newspaper said that what happened to the UN official was an "embarrassing diplomatic incident for Israel", as  during the detention his passport was confiscated, transferred to a waiting area, and he was interrogated about an official visit he made to Gaza in August 2025, which was coordinated with Israel, before he was later released, according to the newspaper.

Great dissatisfaction for the UN official. Israel justifies

After his detention, Micho stated that the treatment was unusual for a high-ranking UN official, and that he had not encountered similar behavior  in other countries, adding that he planned to cancel his official meetings in Israel following the incident, without  giving details about the duration of the visit or the agenda.

There   has been no official comment from the United Nations on the incident so far, while an Israeli official justified that  the incident was caused by a mistaken identification, that it was a safety precaution, and had no connection to the official's identity.

Michaux's visit comes to assess the security of UN teams operating in high-risk conditions, in light of the escalation of Israel's war on Gaza since October 2023, andthe worsening humanitarian crisis, which the United Nations described as the worst in the history of the Gaza Strip, according to Western reports.

Micho's visit to Gaza 2025

The UN official  previously visited the Gaza Strip in August 2025 on an official mission to assess the security and humanitarian situation within his direct powers in monitoring the safety of UN teams working inside the Strip, and it was in advance coordination with the Israeli authorities, according to subsequent reports.

His mission at the time  included reviewing the working conditions of UN teams and assessing the level of risks they face while carrying out their humanitarian tasks in an environment that is considered one of the most dangerous in the world.

Israel obstructs UN work

UN reports issued by the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices documented that Israel prevented the committee from entering the occupied territories between 2023 and 2024, which hindered its work in documenting violations against Palestinians, and the committee was forced to hold its meetings in Geneva and Amman instead of the occupied territories, in clear violation of Israel's obligations to the United Nations.

In a related context, a report issued by the Human Rights Council said that the Israeli authorities are imposing increasing restrictions on civic space, obstructing the work of international community organizations, and targeting UN officials through inspection procedures, denying entry or disrupting their duties, as part of a policy aimed at undermining international monitoring of violations in the occupied territories.