World
UN official says Hamas obstructing Gaza aid: ‘Dangerous pattern of intimidation, violence’
A senior UN official on Monday accused Hamas of interfering with humanitarian deliveries in Gaza and intimidating aid workers, warning that the terror group’s actions were making relief operations increasingly dangerous.
Palestinian Islamist terror movement Hamas continues to control parts of Gaza, even after Israeli forces expanded their presence across the majority of the territory.
In a statement, UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Ramiz Alakbarov, said he “strongly” condemned the obstruction of humanitarian operations by Gaza’s de facto authorities, referring to Hamas.
Hamas’s actions “endangered humanitarian personnel, intimidated workers delivering life-saving food assistance and disrupted life-saving humanitarian operations,” he said.
Armed men linked to Hamas allegedly forced their way into a food distribution point in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on Saturday, the UN statement said.
The operatives “also entered a WFP (World Food Programme) warehouse and reportedly assaulted two truck drivers who were delivering humanitarian supplies,” it added.
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.”
He warned that such actions were hampering the delivery of life-saving assistance at a time when civilians across Gaza faced severe hardships.
An official from the Hamas-run interior ministry in Gaza rejected the accusations, calling them unfounded.
“These are baseless accusations. The police and security forces continue to protect aid trucks and distribution centers and facilitate the work of international and humanitarian organizations,” he told AFP.
He said that “the police will not allow any attacks on humanitarian workers.”
COGAT, the Defense Ministry body in charge of civilian matters in the Palestinian territories, slammed Hamas over the latest accusation.
“This constitutes further clear evidence that Hamas cynically exploits the humanitarian space and the aid intended for the residents of the Gaza Strip for its own purposes,” COGAT said in a statement.
Throughout the war in Gaza, Israel accused Hamas of stealing aid for its own fighters or to sell to finance its operations, while others said the looters were frequently desperate and starving Palestinians.
Israel Police scrap indictment of right-wing activist
Separately on Monday, an indictment filed in June against Reut Ben Haim, who protested against the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, was rescinded, following a request by the Israel Police’s prosecution department.
Ben Haim was indicted on two charges over her role in an incident in May 2025 when she and the Tzav 9 organization she founded blocked aid trucks from traveling from Ashdod to Gaza
She was indicted on charges of interfering with a police officer carrying out his duty and creating a disturbance in a public place, which could lead to a disturbance of the peace.
The police did not explain why the indictment was cancelled.
“The entire indictment was disgraceful and unnecessary in the first place, and public pressure was still needed [for the police] to calm down,” Ben Haim told the Walla news website.
“We will continue to fight against the restrengthening of Hamas and stopping the rehabilitation of Gaza until the strip is demilitarized,” she added.
A ceasefire was reached in Gaza between Israel and Hamas in October following two years of war, which was sparked when Hamas-led terrorists rampaged through southern Israel on October 7, 2023, slaughtering some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
The second phase of the ceasefire, which was to involve Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, has been stalled for months.
Israeli forces have expanded their presence in recent months, taking control of more than 60 percent of the territory, and targeting terrorists it says pose a threat.
Hamas still exerts control over the remaining area.
Strikes continue in Gaza since the ceasefire. Israel says it is responding to violations of the truce by Hamas.
At least 1,100 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect in October last year, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. That toll is unverified and does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, though the Israeli military believes that Hamas’s overall figure is largely accurate.
Overall, Hamas says over 73,000 people in the Gaza Strip have been killed since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel sparked the war in the enclave. The IDF says it has killed over 23,000 combatants in Gaza and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 onslaught.
Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas, including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.
