A former FAO director stated that his contract was not renewed due to alleged breaches of impartiality rules following his criticism of Israeli policies in Gaza.
Published On 2 Oct 2026
A senior director at a United Nations agency has stated that he lost his position after criticizing Israeli policies regarding Gaza. Ben Davis, who served as the Director of Rural Transformation and Gender Equality at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), told AFP on Wednesday that his contract was not renewed in July. He was allegedly informed that he had breached impartiality rules.
Davis explained that he was accused of organizing weekly silent protests at the Rome-based organization. “They accused me of organizing these moments of silence on the situation of starvation and famine in Gaza,” Davis remarked.
In addition to the silent vigils, Davis faced criticism for a report he co-authored on food availability in Gaza and humanitarian law, which was published in May. “We were told to take it down,” he said. “We weren’t allowed to make any references to humanitarian law.”
‘Game of human rights’
FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu appeared to warn staff members on Tuesday that the organization does not tolerate playing political games under the guise of human rights. He made these public comments at the beginning of a filmed session focused on forestry.
“Of course, human rights is very important, but we have the human rights agency in Geneva,” Qu stated. “If you want to take care, go there. That’s why some senior members play the political game here, I fire him … You should follow the FAO constitution … You are against staff regulations … But I’m a very soft person, I didn’t fire that many.”
He added, “I will fire more people if they are against the law.”
The FAO did not respond to a request for comment from AFP.
When asked if he believed the director-general’s comments were directed at him, Davis responded, “absolutely.”
“He has already scolded me in public in the past for being too political,” Davis added.
Davis also expressed concern regarding the director-general’s remarks about terminating more employees.
At its peak, hundreds of people participated in the weekly moments of silence, though attendance has since dwindled to between 30 and 40 participants each week.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has resulted in the deaths of over 74,000 people since October 2023. Additionally, since the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel in October 2025, at least 1,431 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks.
