A United Nations official has accused Hamas of hampering humanitarian operations in Gaza and putting aid workers at risk, an allegation the Palestinian group rejects.

“Humanitarian workers were forced to halt food distributions after armed personnel affiliated with the de facto authorities forcibly entered the Abu Rashid food distribution point in Jabalia, North Gaza,” UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Ramiz Alakbarov said in a statement on Monday.

He said the armed personnel entered a World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse and assaulted two truck drivers who were delivering humanitarian supplies. Alakbarov said “these incidents are not isolated” and “reflect an increasingly dangerous pattern of intimidation, violence and obstruction, including smuggling attempts, targeting and abusing humanitarian operations”.

Hamas, which controls parts of Gaza, strongly denied the allegations. “We categorically reject the language of incitement, the distortion of facts, and the manufactured narrative presented in the statement,” the group said. It said the WFP distribution centre was not attacked but was the site of an “official law enforcement operation” after smuggled items were found concealed inside aid parcels.

The UN official warned that Hamas’s actions continued to hamper the delivery of life-saving assistance at a time when civilians across Gaza faced severe hardships. Israel’s war, launched in October 2023, has killed over 73,000 Palestinians. A US-brokered “ceasefire” in October last year has been consistently breached by Israel, with over 1,100 Palestinians killed since it took effect. Negotiations on a second phase remain stalled.

Source: www.aljazeera.com