UNRWA suspends Gaza aid after Hamas steals food and supplies

[Fozzledick]

By Haaretz Service and The Associated Press

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) on Friday said it is suspending humanitarian aid in Gaza until further notice, after Hamas seized control of its warehouses and stole 200 tons of food and supplies.

The agency said it made the decision after Hamas personnel seized an aid shipment on Thursday. Earlier this week, Hamas police took thousands of blankets and food parcels meant for needy residents.

In a statement, UNRWA said 10 truckloads of flour and rice that had been
delivered into Gaza on Thursday were 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.

UNRWA said the suspension would remain in effect until the aid is returned and the agency receives credible assurances from the Hamas government that such thefts will end. There was no immediate reaction from Hamas.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1062219.html

[azurnoir]

1. So UNRWA has decided to engage

in collective punishment or else be said to be supplying Hamas what a victory for Israel

[Vegasaurus]

2. This shows how pathetic Hamas is

How sick-stealing from the poor.

[shira]

5. well, it's "only" Fatah men, women, children, and grandparents they steal from,

so what's the problem?

:sarcasm:

[bemildred]

3. Gaza Aid Seized "By Mistake" To Be Returned To UN - Hamas

GAZA CITY, Gaza (AFP)--U.N. aid supplies seized "by mistake" will be returned, Hamas said Friday after a U.N. agency threatened to halt importing aid into the Gaza Strip over the incident.

NASDAQ

[azurnoir]

4. Good thank you n/t

[shira]

6. Hamas has done this plenty of times before

so what's different this time? hmmmmm.

They were caught and the MSM actually reported it this time. Maybe that's what's different?

:eyes:

wow.

[EFerrari]

8. Are you saying the Hamas- supporting UNRWA didn't report all those other occasions

or that they are credible for this report?

lol

[ohio2007]

7. ...will be returned.....but don't hold your breath

[GoesTo11]

9. D'oh.

I hate it when that happens.

[Alamuti Lotus]

10. I guess that vast "Hamas/UN" conspiracy against Israel is on hold..

Damn, and I was almost convinced........

[Idealism]

11. The U.N. is only full of Hamasniks when they hold resolutions against Israel

Or so I'm told...

[ohio2007]

12. UN covers their asses as required

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1233304702123&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

it's just not reported as it could show 'bias'

[bemildred]

13. Ex-UNRWA official blasts agency for politicizing Palestinian refugee issue

A former top legal official with the United Nations relief agency charged with providing for Palestinian refugees - UNRWA - issued a report last week critical of some of the organization's practices, accusing the organization of preoccupying itself with the political aspects of the refugee issue.

James Lindsay, who served as UNRWA's legal advisor and general counsel from 2002 until 2007, said the agency needs to adopt reforms if it is to adequately address concerns that it has politicized the Palestinian refugee issue. Among Lindsay's recommendations are the need to end UNRWA assistance to hundreds of thousands of Jordanian citizens who qualify as refugees; shifting from a "status-based" system - whereby anyone who was defined as a refugee received aid even though he or she was more well-off than others - to a "needs-based" system of aid delivery; avoid involvement in political affairs; conduct more stringent background checks on its employees so it does not hire Palestinians who are members of terrorist organizations; and to enable those who wish to leave refugee camps to do so by expanding loans.

An UNRWA spokesman slammed the report, accusing the author of bias and a failure to employ a sufficiently wide range of sources.

"The agency is disappointed by the findings of the study, found it to be tendentious and partial, and regrets in particular the narrow range of sources used," Andrew Whitley, director of the UNRWA representative office at UN headquarters in New York, said.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1062452.html

[Vegasaurus]

14. The UNRWA is pathetic

and continues the cycle of pretending that the "refugees" are ever going "back".

They aren't, and 60 years of billions and billions of dollars of aid and promises have gotten the Palestinians nowhere.