A senior UN official accuses Hamas of interfering with humanitarian deliveries in Gaza and intimidating aid workers, warning that the group’s actions are making relief operations increasingly dangerous.
Palestinian terror group Hamas continues to control parts of Gaza, even after Israeli forces expanded their presence across more than 60 percent of the territory.
In a statement, UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Ramiz Alakbarov, says he “strongly” condemns the obstruction of humanitarian operations by Gaza’s de facto authorities, referring to Hamas.
Hamas’s actions “endangered humanitarian personnel, intimidated workers delivering life-saving food assistance and disrupted life-saving humanitarian operations,” he says.
On Saturday armed men linked to Hamas allegedly forced their way into a food distribution point in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, the UN statement says.
Gunmen “also entered a WFP (World Food Programme) warehouse and reportedly assaulted two truck drivers who were delivering humanitarian supplies,” it adds.
Alakbarov says “these incidents are not isolated” and “reflect an increasingly dangerous pattern of intimidation, violence and obstruction, including smuggling attempts, targeting and abusing humanitarian operations.”
He warns that such actions are hampering the delivery of life-saving assistance at a time when civilians across Gaza faced severe hardships.
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