During Israel's Operation Cast Lead, this blog cited Hamas [
here and
here], for theft of food and supplies meant for Gaza civilians. The Jerusalem Post now reports that UN spokesman Chris Gunness announced that
Hamas police seized thousands of blankets and food parcels meant for needy Gaza residents:
Gunness said Hamas police raided a UN warehouse in Gaza City, snatching 3,500 blankets and over 400 food parcels - supplied meant for 500 Palestinian families. He said the incident took place on Tuesday evening, and that it marked the first time Hamas had seized UN aid.
In a statement released Wednesday, UNRWA condemned the theft "in the strongest terms," and demanded that it be "returned immediately." The statement added that the organization "has a strict system of monitoring aid delivery and ensuring that its assistance reaches only the intended beneficiaries," and that officials were present "taking all possible steps to avoid its diversion"...
Israeli officials have charged that the group routinely confiscates supplies meant for needy Gazans...
Earlier in the week, meanwhile, former UN and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees chief attorney James Lindsay alleged that the organization does little to check whether its staff or clients are terrorists.
The issue, Lindsay wrote in a 67-page critique of the organization, is not intention but oversight.
"UNRWA has taken very few steps to detect and eliminate terrorists from the ranks of its staff or its beneficiaries, and no steps at all to prevent members of terrorist organizations such as Hamas from joining its staff," he wrote.
UNRWA said in response that its staff were prohibited from any political involvement.
