UN admits terror groups are hijacking Gaza aid
Failing to refer to Hamas by name, special coordinator Ramiz Alakbarov 'strongly condemns' actions of armed terror-linked operatives who raided food distribution point
A senior United Nations official has accused armed terror operatives of obstructing humanitarian aid into Gaza and intimidating aid workers.
In a statement on Sunday, UN deputy special co-ordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Ramiz Alakbarov, said he “strongly” condemned the obstruction of humanitarian operations by Gaza’s “de-facto” authorities, without directly referring to Hamas.
He described armed men forcing their way into a food distribution point in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on Saturday, raiding a World Food Programme warehouse and reportedly assaulting two truck drivers who were delivering humanitarian supplies.
Hamas controls the enclave.
Alakbarov warned that the actions “endangered humanitarian personnel, intimidated workers delivering life-saving food assistance and disrupted life-saving humanitarian operations”, going on to note that the incidents were “not isolated”, are “completely unacceptable” and “reflect an increasingly dangerous pattern of intimidation, violence and obstruction, including smuggling attempts, targeting and abusing humanitarian operations”.
He went on to claim that “the expansion of areas under Israeli control is further reducing the space available to civilians, making it imperative that humanitarian assistance is able to move safely and reach people in need without interference.”
Posting on Twitter/X, Israel’s ambassador to the US, Yechiel (Michael) Leiter wrote: “When we warned about aid diversion, anti-Israel fanatics cried “but the UN says it’s not the case”, and “Israel is starving Gaza”. Now, the UN
admits to what we’ve all known for so long — Hamas is obstructing aid distribution. They are literally stealing food from the people they claim to govern. I wonder what excuse the anti-Israel crowd will come up with to ignore it this time. It’s time for those who libelled Israel to start apologising, big time.”
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