The United Nations has accused armed forces affiliated with the Hamas-run government in Gaza of interfering with the delivery of food aid at a distribution site on Saturday.
Ramiz Alakbarov, the top U.N. humanitarian official in Jerusalem, denounced what he called the “obstruction of humanitarian operations” by the armed men.
He said they had forced their way into a food distribution center and entered a warehouse, which were operated by the U.N.’s World Food Program. The men had “endangered humanitarian personnel, intimidated workers delivering lifesaving food assistance and disrupted lifesaving humanitarian operations,” Mr. Alakbarov said. As result, he said, the agency decided to suspend its work at the center.
“These incidents are not isolated. They are completely unacceptable and reflect an increasingly dangerous pattern of intimidation, violence and obstruction,” said Mr. Alakbarov. He did not name Hamas but referred to it as the “de facto authorities” in Gaza. Nor did he say what other incidents he was referring to.
Ismail Thawabteh, a spokesman for the Hamas-controlled government, said that Gaza police had raided the warehouse. But he said it was part of an anti-smuggling operation, adding that Mr. Alakbarov “should have expressed appreciation and gratitude to the government authorities” for preventing the misuse of aid to bring in illicit goods.
Humanitarian aid groups say many essential goods are still difficult to come by in Gaza despite a nominal truce between Israel and Hamas that was brokered by the Trump administration. The cost of food can often still be higher than before the war, according to Gazans and aid groups. A new assessment of food availability by a U.N.-backed monitor is expected later this month.
The cease-fire freed the remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza, as well as Palestinian prisoners and detainees, but most of the agreement’s promises remain unfulfilled.
Israeli forces now control well over half of Gaza, hemming roughly two million Palestinian residents into a gradually shrinking portion of territory along the coast. Israel’s military campaign against Hamas leveled much of the enclave, leaving many living in tents or partially destroyed buildings.
The Israeli military agency that oversees aid to Gaza argued in a recent report that the humanitarian situation has improved significantly since the cease-fire, pointing to reduced price of food.
Over the past three years, international aid groups have faulted Israel for imposing restrictions on aid to Gaza. It has been rare for these groups to criticize Hamas.
Reconstruction and the resumption of normal life are still distant. Israel and the United States both say Gaza cannot be rebuilt unless Hamas — which still controls what remains of Gaza’s major cities — agrees to lay down its weapons.
Hamas has so far refused to do so, pointing to near daily bombings by Israel and its ongoing blockade of Gaza. More than 1,100 people have been killed in Gaza since the cease-fire, according to local health officials, adding to more than 70,000 killed during the two-year war. Their tally does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Palestinians in Gaza are caught between the deadly force of Israel’s military and rule by Hamas, which has cracked down on opponents, tortured dissidents and, since the cease-fire with Israel, sought to consolidate its power.
After the cease-fire in October, Hamas checkpoints proliferated in Gaza as a show of force, according to four Gazan residents, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. Now, amid increasing Israeli strikes, the roadblocks have largely vanished and few police can be seen.
Officials affiliated with Hamas’s Gaza government and security forces now sometimes use the enclave’s hospitals as offices, which they consider to be relatively safe, the four residents said.
Since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel ignited the two-year war, Gazans have suffered from hunger and displacement. Many still depend on humanitarian aid from agencies like the World Food Program or nonprofit groups.
The World Bank and the European Union assess that it will take more than $70 billion to rebuild and revive postwar Gaza. President Trump has tasked his Board of Peace with overseeing the process, but it has so far failed to raise anything close to that sum.
On Monday, the European Union announced that it was pledging about $1 billion for projects to help rebuild infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. An official briefed on the plan, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive subject, said it would likely take at least several months to allocate and disburse the funds.
