Report: Hamas stealing aid supplies to sell to residents

[oberliner]

A government or a gang? As the Israeli operation in Gaza wears on it appears Hamas has relinquished any visage of a socio-political party, abandoning its claim to govern the residents of Gaza in favor of engaging in open war at their expense.

A number of reports from the Strip paint a picture of very difficult humanitarian conditions, not least because of Hamas itself. The suspicion is that the group's operatives have seized control of any supplies passing through the crossings – including those sent by Israel and international organizations.

Reports say Hamas takes a cut out of all aid that arrives, including flour and medicine. Supplies intended to be distributed without gain among the population is seized by the group and sold to the residents, at a profit to the Hamas government.

One such incident was recorded Monday, when a convoy of trucks carrying supplies through the Kerem Shalom crossing was opened fire upon and seized by Hamas gunmen. Similar incidents occurred with trucks carrying fuel.


http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3651783,00.html

[Taverner]

1. If you had any other impression that both sides are using this as a tool

[BunkerHill24]

2. don't expect much...just saying!

[Taverner]

3. I expect humanity at its worst

Fishes rot from the head down you know

So I expect the IDF and Hamas to milk this, beat it to death, and then afterwards take no responsibility for whatever atrocities occur.

Is there a way we can send both to the Hague?

[roguevalley]

10. God, this is awful. Hamas are bastards for this. They have no

love for their people at all. God help everyone here who has to suffer from the actions of fools and bastards.

[Taverner]

11. Israel has done things just as despicable

It's fucked up on every side of the equation.

There are no good guys - only psychos and victims

[roguevalley]

12. agreed, mostly.

[EFerrari]

4. Who is the source here?

[BunkerHill24]

7. LOL...hahahaa

:rofl:

[azurnoir]

13. Wasn't there a report last week about

Hamas policeman arresting shopkeepers for price gouging?

[EFerrari]

15. Yes. And Amy Goodman asked one of her guests from the UNWRA

this question very directly and he said that to his knowledge, this was not true. It was in response to the same talking point from the right wing bobblehead from The Israel Project. Maybe that was on the Monday show.

[conscious evolution]

25. An israeli propoganda artist.

Who else would spew such obvious bullshit.

[rfranklin]

5. This is propaganda from a partisan source...

I have a hard time passing judgment based on such "reports."

[GoesTo11]

8. Possibly true, but I'd wait for an independent confirmation

If true, it's not very nice.

[stopbush]

6. Disinformation is SO easy, isn't it?

[LaPera]

9. More propaganda....Gee who has high-tech aircraft shooting down & bombing everything in site?

[azurnoir]

14. Next up the youtube video n/t

[EFerrari]

16. Speaking of reliable sources, "Mosaic" is a program on LinkTv

that collects video segments from news broadcasts in the Middle East every day. The is no editorializing and there is an English translation. I believe the program is available via satellite but it can also be streamed:

http://www.linktv.org/mosaic

[TahitiNut]

17. I'm awaiting 'reports' of babies removed from incubators and the incubators stolen.

:eyes:

[Behind the Aegis]

18. Of course you are, because Hamas would **NEVER** do such a thing.

:eyes:

[shira]

19. right, they only hide in maternity wards

and call for the killing of all jewish children worldwide, but they'd NEVER go so far as to actually steal humanitarian aid supplies.

"but, but....they're into bigtime social-services and they really care...and they're not corrupt like Fatah". :nopity:

oh yeah, this is Israel's fault too. see, they're aiding Hamas indirectly now by counting on hamas to steal and sell the supplies. they want this war to keep going so they can kill more kiddies. Hamas can't just roll over and die so soon. Gotta drag the carnage out a little longer. Those bad zionists. :eyes: :tinfoilhat:

[azurnoir]

32. Do you have a link for that one I had not read about that n/t

[TahitiNut]

26. Of course not. They'd actually dine on the infants, right? (After raping the mothers, of course.)

:eyes:

Oh, wait ... maybe I'm confused. Perhaps they'd rape the infants and dine on the corpses of the mothers? It's hard to keep up with all the conjecture and projection.
:shrug:

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[cali]

21. and as long as the charge is that it's Israelis doing it

and the source is something like the unimpeachable Press TV or Counterpunch, you'll swallow it hook, line and sinker.

That people want to believe the worst about the side they think is the "bad", is hardly news. We see it here every day. And it's damn well true of many on both sides.

[ProgressiveMuslim]

22. Babies cling to life in stricken hospital

The fate of 600 patients rests on four ageing generators keeping blackouts at bay, reports Kim Sengupta


Even with the glimmer of hope that a ceasefire may finally be under negotiation, the situation at Gaza's biggest hospital remains desperate, with more than 70 life-support patients now precariously dependent on generators because the main power supply has been down for five days.


The 596-bed Shifa hospital in Gaza City was struggling yesterday to cope with the latest casualties of war – the injured victims of the bombing on Tuesday at a school in the Jabalya refugee camp which left 42 dead.

But the shortage of fuel to run the generators, after months of the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, is now the biggest problem facing Shifa and other medical facilities in Gaza. "It is not just a matter of fuel," said Dr Hassan Khalaf, the director of the hospital. "We have four generators and they are old. They are meant to be back-ups, not run all the time. We have difficulties with spare parts, and with maintenance. But we are having to use the generators to power all wards, including intensive care and dialysis units. I heard that they are opening the border for a few hours to let in humanitarian supplies, and that is good. But I don't know what is going to happen about the fuel, this is critical."

The intensive care unit at the hospital is looking after 25 premature babies as well as people injured in the fighting. Around 300 people need to use kidney dialysis. Gaza's sole power plant ceased operating after fuel deliveries were stopped by the Israelis because militants carried out rocket attacks on the crossings through which fuel was being shipped in. This has left most of the Palestinian territory's 1.5 million residents without electricity. Since the beginning of the military offensive there has also been a severe shortage of diesel and of gas in cylinders – used by many Gaza families for cooking – after the tunnels used to smuggle them in from Egypt were hit by air strikes. "We don't have any diesel and we only have about two days worth of cooking gas left," said Hussein Aashour, the chief administrator at the hospital.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/babies-cling-to-life-in-stricken-hospital-1232056.html

------------------------------------------
Yessiree, Israel is the good guy here.

[LeftishBrit]

23. I'm sure that there are exaggerated atrocity stories on both sides...

but it's hardly unknown for governments and officials anywhere to steal aid intended for their people.

I hope the report is wrong or at least exaggerated.

[ProgressiveMuslim]

27. Is it truly always equal for you LB? Are there really atrocities EQUAL to what has gone down these

last 12 days on both sides?

Really, there is nothing EQUAL about this.

Day 13: 765 dead... 220 of them children. Over 3000 wounded.

There is simply nothing EQUAL about this, unless you believe that one Israeli life equals 100 Palestinian... I know you don't believe that, so drop the "equal" nonsense, at least for this week, OK?

[LeftishBrit]

31. I didn't say 'atrocities on both sides'. I said 'atrocity STORIES on both sides'

What I was saying is that in a war, people on both sides tend to accuse each other of all manner of wicked actions. This story about Hamas stealing aid for the Palestinians may or may not be accurate but I would not believe it without reliable confirmation. I also won't believe accusations against Israelis without confirmation. 'The first casualty of war is truth' and that does indeed usually apply to both sides.

And you know that I consider the Israeli actions disproportionate, and not equal in this case. That's not what I was saying.

[Arrowhead2k1]

28. Except one side gets to enjoy a sizable chunk of OUR tax dollars.

We can't afford to pretend to be neutral observers here because we're not. We are complicit to Israeli war crimes.

[Hugabear]

29. Don't forget about Hamas firing rockets with chemical weapons in them

n/t

[bunnies]

24. Oh, and rockets *really* were being fired from that UN school.

Got any other source for this?

[sixmile]

30. A wee bit of truth filters our of this piece:

In the first sentence a question is posited "A government or a gang?' Well a gang, of course. Clearly Hamas cannot be called a government. Israel knows this too well. There is no Hamas navy, air force, tanks, ground defense forces, central command, etc. They are a toothless dog that likes to bark-hardly worthy of a military response. Hamas should be dealt with as if they were an organized crime syndicate, not an army.

[azurnoir]

33. Well then that explains why Israel fired on the UN truck

doesn't it? They were just cutting off Hamases money link right? Tell us any reports of UNRWA workers getting a cut or are they Hamas too?:sarcasm:

But in any event that will no longer be a problem will it as the UN has suspended aid to Gaza mission accomplished