The Under-Secretary-General for Safety and Security of the United Nations, Gilles Michaud, faced an embarrassing diplomatic situation on Tuesday morning, after being detained by Israeli authorities at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv. The detention lasted for about 45 minutes immediately upon the UN official's arrival at the airport, where he was isolated from his companions in preparation for unusual security measures against a high-ranking international figure.
Journalistic sources reported that airport security personnel confiscated Michaud's passports and transferred him to a designated waiting area, before the Israeli General Security Service (Shin Bet) took over the task of interrogating him. The security interrogation focused on details of a previous official visit the UN official had made to the Gaza Strip in August 2025, which surprised diplomatic circles.
Hebrew reports stated that the initial suspicions of airport security were related to an identity verification error, but the interrogation delved into his previous activities within the Palestinian territories. The Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper described the incident as a very embarrassing diplomatic incident, especially since Michaud holds Canadian citizenship and occupies a sensitive position in the UN organizational structure.
The controversial aspect of this incident is that the visit for which Michaud was interrogated had been fully and previously coordinated with the relevant Israeli authorities at the time. Nevertheless, Shin Bet officers insisted on reviewing the details of his movements within the Strip, which reflects a state of administrative confusion or a desire to restrict international personnel working in the region.
For his part, Gilles Michaud expressed his strong dissatisfaction with the treatment he received at the airport, emphasizing that this behavior contradicts internationally accepted diplomatic norms. The UN official indicated that he had visited many countries around the world and had never before faced such humiliating procedures, which led him to seriously consider canceling a series of official meetings scheduled with Israeli officials.
Observers believe that this incident cannot be isolated from the general context of continuous Israeli incitement against UN institutions and their staff since the outbreak of the war on Gaza. The escalating tensions between Tel Aviv and the international organization have clearly reflected on the field treatment of UN teams, reaching the point of restricting their movement and repeatedly targeting their headquarters.
This incident comes at a time when relations between Israel and the United Nations are experiencing a sharp deterioration, especially after recent Israeli decisions to ban UNRWA's work and accuse its employees of bias. It seems that Michaud's interrogation represents a new episode in the series of pressures exerted by Israeli security agencies to obstruct international humanitarian and security missions in the occupied territories.
In an attempt to justify the situation, some Israeli sources claimed that what happened might have been due to a technical error in the security procedures at the airport. However, the length of the detention period and the nature of the questions posed by the Shin Bet indicate a deliberate intention to scrutinize all international figures who come into direct contact with the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
I have not faced similar behavior in other countries, and what happened is unusual for a high-ranking UN official.
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Diplomatic Crisis at Ben Gurion Airport: Occupation Detains and Interrogates Senior UN Official