UNRWA accuses Hamas of stealing Gaza aid packages
February 4, 2009
Agence France Press
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JERUSALEM (AFP) — The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) on Wednesday said Hamas had seized hundreds of food parcels and thousands of blankets destined for Gaza civilians in the wake of Israel's war.
At 14:30 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, it said in a statement.
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. The aid was due to be distributed to five hundred families in the area, UNRWA said.
UNRWA condemns in the strongest terms the confiscation of its aid supplies and has demanded that it is returned immediately.
Even before Israel's 22-day offensive that ended on January 18, the UN agency played a key role in distributing aid in the impoverished Hamas-ruled Palestinian enclave, handing out food rations to about half the 1.5-million population.