Aid to Gaza suspended

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**Frazzled**

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gXQnAvJOhkC7OFU6PtROZzL1lK2A

UN agency halts aid imports to Gaza amid flap over seizure
1 hour ago

GAZA CITY (AFP) — A UN agency said on Friday it halted aid imports into Gaza after hundreds of tonnes of food assistance were seized, but Hamas indicated the goods would be returned, saying the incident was a mistake.

"UNRWA has suspended all imports of aid into the Gaza Strip following the confiscation of hundreds of tonnes of food aid," the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said.

Hamas promptly indicated the aid would be returned, blaming the incident on confusion at the Kerem Shalom crossing where the supplies had been brought in from Egypt through Israel.

Hamas social affairs minister Ahmed al-Kurd ordered "the aid to be returned to the agency if it turns out it is indeed its property," said Fawzi Barhum, a spokesman for the Islamist movement that rules Gaza.

"The aid supplies were loaded onto trucks by mistake as no government representative was present. The drivers did not know which supplies were UNRWA's and which were the government's."

UNRWA said 10 truckloads of rice and flour, more than 200 tonnes, brought in by the agency were seized on Thursday night on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel.

The aid was taken away by trucks contracted by the social affairs ministry, a statement said.

"UNRWA's suspension of imports will remain in effect until the aid is returned and the agency is given credible assurances from the Hamas government in Gaza that there will be no repeat of these thefts," the statement said.

UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness told AFP "the people of Gaza have suffered quite enough, and anything that puts in jeopardy the international system is extremely dangerous."

UNRWA said the incident was the second of its kind in three days. On Tuesday, 3,500 blankets and more than 400 food parcels were seized at gunpoint from a distribution store in a Gaza City refugee camp, it said.

Following that, UN humanitarian chief John Holmes slammed as unacceptable the confiscation of aid supplies by Hamas personnel and demanded immediate restitution.

He warned that such actions could jeopardise delivery of aid at a time when the world body and its partners were doing their best to meet the basic humanitarian needs of Gaza's 1.5 million people still reeling from a recent Israeli military onslaught.

The social affairs minister has implicitly admitted that Tuesday's shipment was seized, arguing that the aid should be distributed to a wider section of the Gaza population than just those who hold refugee status and benefit from UNRWA assistance.

Virtually all aid delivered to Gaza comes from UN and other humanitarian agencies.

The deliveries are an exception to the crippling Israeli blockade of Gaza, but Israel has regularly responded to Palestinian militant rocket attacks by preventing aid convoys from entering the besieged territory.

UNRWA plays a key role in distributing aid in the impoverished enclave and says it is handing out food assistance 900,000 people, out of a 1.5-million population.

More than 1,300 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli offensive that ended on January 18.

Preliminary UN estimates indicate that over 14,000 homes and 68 government buildings were destroyed or damaged in the 22-day military offensive against Hamas, the Islamist movement that seized power in Gaza 18 months ago.

**smiling Assassin**

What do you expect?

The UN has practically no sway.

The interwar era Cartoon springs to mind:

(Britain and France, talking to Germany):

"We don't want to fight, but by Jingo if you do
We'll issue a joint memorandum,
Suggesting a mild dissaproval of you."

Basically, we're all talk.

Nothing's changed.

~sA

**dogma**

This actually could have been a simple mistake. The crossings into Gaza are foot only, so any supplies coming through have to walked across the border before being loaded onto separate trucks. Throw in the fact that they are heavily policed by the Israeli military, and it isn't surprising that mistakes would be made.

**Orlanth**

I doubt it was a mistake, the aid was taken by Hamas.

Wrong is wrong but this story smacks of propoganda. If aid to Africa arrived and only 50% was taken by the local authorities the aid agencies would consider themselves very lucky, I know this for a flat fact, but its Hamas so there is finger pointing a a media campaign.

And yes Hamas are the local authorities because they have the mandate of the people in an election, "seized power" is hardly a balanced bit of reporting. A rather inconvenient fact for some.

**Polonius**

I'm not sure how I feel about cutting of the aid there. I have no real problem with Israel doing what it can to protect itself, but cutting off the aid only hurts the most innocent.

**dogma**

UNRWA said the incident was the second of its kind in three days. On Tuesday, 3,500 blankets and more than 400 food parcels were seized at gunpoint from a distribution store in a Gaza City refugee camp, it said.

This was not a mistake.

The drivers did not know which supplies were UNRWA's and which were the government's."

UNRWA said 10 truckloads of rice and flour, more than 200 tonnes, brought in by the agency were seized on Thursday night on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel.

This may have been. Kerem Shalom is under tripartite administration (Egypt, Israel, PA), and serves as the only relatively open point of access into Gaza. It is an incredibly chaotic place, which was certainly made all the worse by the fact that recent hostilities pushed the population balance towards the South. Hamas most likely sent out drivers to pick up supplies from a common transition depot, and they simply took everything rather than risk leaving something behind. It certainly shows a lack of respect for the UN, but necessarily overt malice.

**Frazzled**

Polonius wrote:I'm not sure how I feel about cutting of the aid there. I have no real problem with Israel doing what it can to protect itself, but cutting off the aid only hurts the most innocent.

Unless I misread thats not Israel cutting off the aid by the UN itself.

**Polonius**

Frazzled wrote:
Polonius wrote:I'm not sure how I feel about cutting of the aid there. I have no real problem with Israel doing what it can to protect itself, but cutting off the aid only hurts the most innocent.

Unless I misread thats not Israel cutting off the aid by the UN itself.

Yeah, I don't think the UN should have done that. Compared to the corruption and long standing problems elsewhere, the problems in Gaza are a lot more short term and Hamas has a pretty decent track record of actually helping the people, at least by the standards of third world terrorist organizations.

**Frazzled**

True on both. There may be more to this though. The UN has said that the claim of people being killed in one of its shelters was actually false (wounded brought into the shelter) and there were several instances of Hamas using UN locations as bunkers.

**ShumaGorath**

I think the question should be what is hamas doing with the aid it seized. If it got to the people living under hamas (which is where it was going anyway) then beef up transport security and keep sending the aid in. Cutting it off only strongarms food out of the hands of the Palestinians.