UN suspends aid shipments into Gaza

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Source: CCTV.com | 02-07-2009 08:57

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency has suspended all aid shipments into the Gaza Strip due to interference by the Hamas group. The agency made the decision after Hamas personnel intercepted an aid shipment for the second time this week.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency has suspended all aid shipments into the Gaza Strip due to interference by the Hamas group.

The UN Relief and Works agency said on Friday that 10 truckloads of flour and rice it had delivered into Gaza on Thursday had been taken away by trucks affiliated with the Hamas-run Ministry of Social Affairs.

Earlier this week, Hamas police took thousands of blankets and food parcels meant for needy residents.

Chris Gunness, spokesman of UN Relief & Works Agency, said, "Our position is very clear: until we get all of this aid back and until we receive credible assurances from the Hamas government, the suspension of our imports of aid into Gaza will continue. Let me make one thing clear: we have some supplies in Gaza. We're going to continue with those distributions - those are not suspended. What

we're suspending is the importing of trucks of aid into Gaza."

The agency also said it has been unable to bring in plastic bags used for food distribution, and that its existing supplies will run out early next week.

Some 80 percent of Gaza's 1.4 million people rely on the UN agency for food and other support, and the UN says the need for aid has increased since Israel ended a military offensive in Gaza last month.

Hamas Social Affairs minister Ahmed al-Kurd dismissed Thursday's incident as "a misunderstanding" and expressed hope the dispute would soon be resolved.

Earlier, a Hamas spokesman accused the UN agency's employees of providing aid to groups attached to rival political parties.

Editor:Liu Fang