JERUSALEM, July 13 — A senior UN official today accused Hamas of interfering with humanitarian deliveries in Gaza and intimidating aid workers, warning that the group’s actions were making relief operations increasingly dangerous.

Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas continues to control parts of Gaza, even after Israeli forces expanded their presence across the majority of the territory.

In a statement, UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Ramiz Alakbarov, said he “strongly” condemned the obstruction of humanitarian operations by Gaza’s de facto authorities, referring to Hamas.

Hamas’s actions “endangered humanitarian personnel, intimidated workers delivering life-saving food assistance and disrupted life-saving humanitarian operations”, he said.

Armed men linked to Hamas allegedly forced their way into a food distribution point in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday, the UN statement said.

Militants “also entered a WFP (World Food Programme) warehouse and reportedly assaulted two truck drivers who were delivering humanitarian supplies”, it added.

Alakbarov said “these incidents are not isolated” and “reflect an increasingly dangerous pattern of intimidation, violence and obstruction, including smuggling attempts, targeting and abusing humanitarian operations”.

He warned that such actions were hampering the delivery of life-saving assistance at a time when civilians across Gaza faced severe hardships.

An official from the Hamas-run interior ministry in Gaza rejected the accusations, calling them unfounded.

“These are baseless accusations. The police and security forces continue to protect aid trucks and distribution centres and facilitate the work of international and humanitarian organisations,” he told AFP.

He said “the police will not allow any attacks on humanitarian workers”.

COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry body in charge of civilian matters in the Palestinian territories, slammed Hamas over the latest accusation.

“This constitutes further clear evidence that Hamas cynically exploits the humanitarian space and the aid intended for the residents of the Gaza Strip for its own purposes,” Cogat said in a statement.

A ceasefire was reached in Gaza between Israel and Hamas in October following two years of war, which was sparked by the Palestinian militants’ unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The second phase of the ceasefire, which was to involve Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, has been stalled for months.

Israeli forces have expanded their presence in recent months, taking control of more than 60 per cent of the territory.

Hamas still exerts control over the remaining area, but last week announced it was dissolving its 15-member body that had governed the strip for nearly two decades.

Violence continues in Gaza despite the ceasefire.

At least 1,098 Palestinians have been killed since the truce took effect, according to the territory’s health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.

The Israeli military says it has lost five soldiers in Gaza over the same period, as well as one civilian contractor. — AFP