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Thursday, February 5, 2009

UN reports Hamas seized aid reaching Gaza

JERUSALEM Ñ For the first time, the United Nations has acknowledged that the Hamas regime was stealing humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.   

The UN Relief Works Association said Hamas police stole thousands of blankets and hundreds of food parcels from the Shati refugee camp outside Gaza City. UNRWA said Hamas forces raided a Gaza warehouse on Feb. 3 and removed the humanitarian aid, meant for distribution to 500 families in the camp.

"At 1430 on 3 February over 3,500 blankets and 406 food parcels were confiscated from a distribution store at Beach Camp in Gaza by police personnel," the UN agency said. "This took place after UNRWA staff had earlier refused to hand over the aid supplies to the Hamas-run Ministry of Social Affairs. The police subsequently broke into the warehouse and seized the aid by force."

This was the first time UNRWA reported theft by the Hamas regime of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. In January 2009, both Jordan and Kuwait suspended aid shipments to the Gaza Strip in wake of hijackings of supply trucks by Hamas.

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Western diplomats said Hamas has insisted on overseeing humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. They said Hamas officers often hijacked aid convoys and resold the goods on the black market.

"UNRWA condemns in the strongest terms the confiscation of its aid supplies and has demanded that it is returned immediately," the UN agency said. "UNRWA has a strict system of monitoring aid delivery and ensuring that its assistance reaches only the intended beneficiaries. Our officials were on the ground overseeing the delivery of our aid and taking all possible steps to avoid its diversion."

Palestinian sources said Hamas has cracked down on relief groups and charities throughout the Gaza Strip in wake of the 22-day war with Israel. They said Hamas squads seized control of at least two charities in the northern Gaza Strip while hijacking more than 63 tons of international humanitarian aid in late January.

Hamas has acknowledged the seizure of UN supplies. Hamas Interior Ministry spokesman Ihab Ghussein said UNRWA was not allowed to store the blankets and food in facilities that did not belong to the relief agency.

The UN said it has distributed blankets and food to about 70,000 people in the Gaza Strip since Israel declared a ceasefire in its war with Hamas on Jan. 18. Officials said the aid, supplied by Arab and Western donors, would continue.

"We are not going to punish the refugees for the irresponsible actions of a few," UNRWA chief in Gaza John Ging said. "Whatever donors give us by way of assistance has to be fully accounted for."



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