Sunday, February 08, 2009

UN Suspends Aid in Gaza – Hamas caught stealing again

The UN aid agency in Gaza has announced that it has suspended all aid shipments, accusing Hamas of seizing supplies of food.

The shipment consisted of ten lorries carrying flour and rice, which were taken from the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing.

The UN Secretary –General Ban Ki-moon has stated that Hamas must immediately release the shipment, and he has called upon Hamas to “refrain from interference with the provision and distribution of humanitarian assistance in Gaza”.

Despite the stern warnings from the UN, Hamas have given what can only be considered a sleight of hand response by stating that the goods would only be returned to the agency

“if it turns out it is indeed its property”.

Such a statement is no assurance that the goods will be returned. It is the kind of statement that is intended to give an “out”.

Hamas is being caught out in its double dealing and to add further examples of the double dealing it has been reported that Hamas is ignoring Gazans who are not supporters of Hamas, and that these other people have only received limited financial aid from Hamas, despite having their homes destroyed owing to the actions of Hamas. (I will deal with these actions in another post)

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