Hamas condemns WFP decision to halt aid delivery

Palestinian Territories – AFP

Hamas has condemned the decision of the World Food Programme (WFP) to stop desperately-needed deliveries to the north of the Gaza.

The WFP had only just resumed deliveries Sunday but said its convoy was met with gunfire, violence and looting, while a truck driver was beaten.

“We are shocked about this decision by the World Food Programme to suspend the delivery of food aid in northern Gaza, which means a death sentence and death for three-quarters of a million people,” the Hamas government media office said Tuesday night.

Calling on the agency to “immediately reverse its disastrous decision”, it said “we hold the United Nations and the international community responsible”.

Since Israel launched its war on Gaza, the people of the enclave have been plunged into a food crisis, with outside aid severely restricted.

The UN has repeatedly sounded the alarm over the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, warning that food shortages could lead to an “explosion” of preventable child deaths.

More than four months of relentless attacks by Israel have flattened much of the coastal territory, pushing 2.2 million people to the brink of famine and displacing three-quarters of the population, according to UN estimates.

“We can’t take it anymore. We do not have flour, we don’t even know where to go in this cold weather,” said Ahmad, a resident of Gaza city, where streets are strewn with rubble from destroyed buildings and garbage.

“We demand a cease-fire. We want to live,” he said.

– ‘Graveyard’ –

Rafah, Gaza’s last city to face a ground invasion by Israeli ground troops, is also the main entry point for desperately needed relief supplies via Egypt.

Qatar, which has played a key role in mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel, said Tuesday that medicines sent into Gaza under a deal co-negotiated by France had reached the Israeli prisoners, in exchange for a shipment of humanitarian aid.

But overall, negotiation efforts have failed to secure a long-term truce and despite international pressure, Israel has insisted that a ground operation Rafah is essential.

Israel’s attacks have killed at least 29,195 people, mostly women and children, according to the latest count by the territory’s health ministry.

Leaders of global humanitarian groups said a ground offensive could turn the Rafah into a “graveyard”, warning of the “truly unimaginable” consequences of a full-scale assault.

Israel has said that unless all the Israelis are freed by the start of Ramadan on March 10 or 11, it will push on with its offensive during the Muslim holy month, including in Rafah.

Adding to the international chorus of criticism of Israel, Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Tuesday accused Israel of committing a “genocide” of the Palestinians in Gaza — echoing comments made by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Lula sparked a diplomatic firestorm with his comments ahead of the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro opening Wednesday, and Israel has declared him “persona non grata”.