(NewsNation) — An official with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) forcibly pushed back Thursday on Israel’s claim Hamas is stealing aid meant for civilians in Gaza.
“There’s no hijacking of our (UNRWA) supplies by Hamas,” UNRWA official Bill Deere told NewsNation. “The fact of the matter is … all of this is closely watched by both Israel and the United States from the moment it enters the Rafah border crossing or Kerem Shalom all the way to its delivery to people in need.”
Deere was responding to claims made by Eylon Levy, an Israeli government spokesman, who said UNRWA had been “woefully unsuccessful” at delivering aid because of Hamas “hijackings.”
“What you’re seeing is another part of the conflict: deliberate reputational attacks on humanitarian providers, and a lot of it aimed at us,” said Deere. “Obviously, disinformation is a normal part of conflict. But in this particular case, it’s something I haven’t personally experienced before: The disinformation campaign is aimed at the very agency trying to help people.”
The United States — while providing crucial support for the offensive — has urged Israel to take greater measures to spare civilians and allow in more aid. But humanitarian workers say the amount of food, fuel and medical supplies entering is still far below what is needed, and 1 in 4 Palestinians in Gaza is starving, according to U.N. officials.
Deere said continued attacks against relief agencies being made without evidence damage humanitarian efforts: “The reputational risk to the agency, the harm to the agency has at that point already occurred, hasn’t it?”
There are cases, however, when Deere admits there are struggles providing relief, but he says Hamas is not blocking or stealing the aid.
“There is insecurity, there’s blocked roads, there’s scarcity of fuel. The real issue isn’t the volume; it’s the inability to get into the people in need,” he said. “I’ll tell you what is happening: desperation. There are people who are trying to halt the convoys — mostly to take things off the trucks and then literally eat it at the side of the road.”
The war has already killed over 20,000 Palestinians and driven around 85% of the population of 2.3 million from their homes. Much of northern Gaza has been leveled, and it has been largely depopulated and isolated from the rest of the territory for weeks. Many fear a similar fate awaits the south as Israel expands its offensive to most of the tiny enclave.