The UN vehicles were reportedly stolen, and terrorists placed sandbags on the route to prevent new attempts to deliver aid.
Hamas prevented the opening of anew humanitarian route to deliver aid across the southern Gaza Strip by firing at UN vehicles, the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said on Saturday.
The UN vehicles were reportedly stolen, and terrorists placed sandbags on the route to prevent new attempts to deliver aid.
In response, Head of COGAT Major-General Ghassan Alian said, “Hamas proves time and again that it has no interest in the well-being of the residents of the Gaza Strip, but only in its terrorist motives.
COGAT shows a UN vehicle shot by Hamas terrorists while trying to enter a new aid route. (credit: COGAT)
“Even as the State of Israel works together with the UN and international organizations to expand the scope of humanitarian aid, Hamas is desperate to thwart this, thereby once again abandoning the residents it claims to represent and enslaving them to ensure its survival. I strongly condemn the attack on UN workers by Hamas. We will not allow Hamas to once again create false narratives of a crisis in the Gaza Strip, and we will continue to expose its cruelty.”
Hamas sabotaging aid in Gaza
Sharing images of the damaged vehicles, COGAT condemned Hamas for “deliberately trying to thwart the adaptation of humanitarian infrastructure in the southern Gaza Strip, while directly harming the efforts of international aid organizations and their staff, in order to create a crisis that will exert international pressure on Israel to stop the operation in Gaza City.”
The announcement comes a day after UNICEF admitted that “armed individuals,” named by COGAT as members of Hamas, stole humanitarian aid trucks filled with baby formula in Gaza City.