Hamas militants have stolen humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza, according to the US

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken inspected the aid shipment before it was sent to the Gaza Strip from the charity in Amman during his visit to Jordan. The shipment was unloaded by the Jordanian army in the Gaza Strip and handed over to a humanitarian group that was supposed to distribute it. But the aid was soon “withheld and diverted” by Hamas, Miller said.

“It was an unacceptable act by Hamas to divert and seize that aid,” Miller said. He added that he believed that the UN had either received or was recovering the aid.

At the same time, he said that Hamas must not divert humanitarian aid intended for innocent civilians for its own benefit. Doing so could jeopardize aid supplies, Miller said.

The Israeli army enters Rafah. Regardless of the armistice agreement

Near and Middle East

Miller’s statement corresponds with statements by Israel, which claims that Hamas is stockpiling supplies and refusing to release them to increasingly desperate civilians, writes the Times of Israel.

In this context, the paper mentioned footage from Gaza showing gunmen stealing trucks carrying humanitarian aid from Egypt. According to Israeli media, they are supposed to be connected to Hamas, which rules in the enclave.

Protest against aid deliveries

But the problems with the delivery of aid to civilians in Gaza do not concern only Hamas. Tzav 9, which opposes sending aid while Hamas continues to hold Israeli hostages, staged a demonstration at the Allenby border crossing between Israel and Jordan on Tuesday night to block the aid convoy.

Footage of young women sitting on the road in front of a truck appeared on social media, while other protesters held Israeli flags and photographs of hostages. In the videos, activists were seen throwing sacks of flour on the road.

Israeli authorities detained three of the protesters.

A mob of Palestinians drove European diplomats out of a West Bank museum. Stones flew through the air

Near and Middle East

The Israeli government must “continue to send a strong signal that this aid cannot be attacked when it passes through Israel … Israel is better,” Blinken said. “The people who so desperately need this help have nothing to do with October 7, nothing to do with hostages,” the US secretary said, referring to the date of the brutal Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, to which Israel responded with an ongoing operation in the Gaza Strip.

Israel reopened the only border crossing on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip, allowing humanitarian aid trucks to pass through the Erez checkpoint into the Gaza Strip. The U.S. military is also building a temporary pier to boost humanitarian aid deliveries, which is more than half complete, the Pentagon said Wednesday.