UN Condemns Obstruction of Humanitarian Operations in Gaza

On Sunday 12th July, a senior United Nations official responsible for humanitarian aid operations in the Gaza Strip made a formal statement condemning ’the recent obstruction of humanitarian operations in Gaza by the de facto authorities’ (i.e. Hamas).

He highlighted two particular instances of obstruction and then said:

"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."

That statement surprised many observers because there has been substantial evidence of Hamas hijacking humanitarian aid throughout the conflict with Israel, yet the United Nations has remained largely silent about the problem.

Natasha Hausdorff highlighted this when she described the statement as "far too little, far too late."

She went on to highlight that while the UN statement referred to recent activity by Hamas, this is a longstanding problem for which there is substantial, verified evidence of Hamas stealing aid and using violence to establish its control over these humanitarian operations.

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