UN official says Hamas militant group obstructing aid in Gaza

JERUSALEM — A United Nations official has accused Palestinian militant group Hamas of disrupting humanitarian aid distribution in the Gaza Strip, adding further hardship to civilians already facing a worsening humanitarian crisis in the war-ravaged enclave.

In a statement late Sunday, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories said aid operations were suspended on Saturday after armed men entered a food distribution center in northern Gaza and assaulted two truck drivers at a World Food Program (WFP) warehouse.

"These incidents are not isolated. They are completely unacceptable and reflect an increasingly dangerous pattern of intimidation, violence and obstruction, including smuggling attempts, targeting and abusing humanitarian operations," U.N. Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Ramiz Alakbarov said.

Alakbarov said the incidents were putting humanitarian workers at risk, disrupting the delivery of life-saving assistance and limiting the ability of aid organizations to operate at a time when civilians across Gaza continue to face severe humanitarian conditions.

Hamas denied the allegations on Monday, saying the police forces involved were carrying out a law enforcement operation after receiving reports that cigarettes and mobile phone components were being smuggled inside aid packages.

"The incident at the World Food Programme (WFP) food distribution center in the Abu Rashid area of Jabalia Refugee Camp was neither a raid, an attack, nor an obstruction of humanitarian work, as falsely claimed," Hamas said in a statement.

More than two-and-a-half years after the Gaza war began following Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, large parts of the enclave remain destroyed.

Israel's extensive air and ground operations have displaced nearly the entire population of around two million people, with many now living in tents or damaged buildings in a narrow coastal area still controlled by Hamas.

Israeli forces remain in control of more than 60% of Gaza, including its access points. Ceasefire negotiations aimed at securing the disarmament of Hamas and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza have stalled for months.

-Reporting by Maayan Lubell and Steven Scheer in Jerusalem and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo/Reuters