UN Accuses Hamas of Blocking Humanitarian Aid in Gaza

A senior UN official has sharply criticized Hamas, accusing the terror group of hampering humanitarian relief efforts in the Gaza Strip. According to the UN, aid workers face threats and violence while life-saving emergency aid is prevented from being delivered.

Ramiz Alakbarov, Deputy Special Coordinator for the UN’s Middle East peace process, stated in a statement that Hamas, which still maintains control over parts of Gaza, has systematically disrupted aid operations.

– I strongly condemn the recent obstacles to humanitarian interventions in Gaza caused by the de facto authorities. Their actions have endangered aid workers, intimidated staff delivering vital food assistance, and impeded life-saving humanitarian efforts, Alakbarov says in a statement.

According to the UN, a serious incident occurred in Jabalia in northern Gaza on Saturday, where armed men with ties to Hamas reportedly entered a food distribution site.

The terror group is also said to have forcibly entered a warehouse belonging to the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) and assaulted two truck drivers who were transporting emergency aid.

The UN stresses that these events are not isolated incidents but part of a recurring pattern where aid efforts are threatened by violence, attempted smuggling, and other forms of sabotage.

– These incidents are not isolated. They are utterly unacceptable and reflect an increasingly dangerous pattern of threats, violence, obstruction, smuggling attempts, as well as attacks on and exploitation of humanitarian operations.

According to Alakbarov, these events put aid workers at great risk, complicate the delivery of life-saving assistance, and restrict humanitarian organizations’ ability to operate in Gaza. Meanwhile, humanitarian needs among the civilian population remain extremely high.

Despite the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which took effect in October last year after two years of war, violence continues in the area. The second phase of the agreement—which among other things was to see Hamas disarmed and Israeli forces gradually withdraw from Gaza—has been stalled for some time.

Meanwhile, Israel has expanded its military presence and now controls more than 60 percent of the Gaza Strip. Hamas still holds sway over the remaining areas, even though the organization recently announced it was dissolving the 15-member governing body that has administered Gaza for nearly two decades.