Hamas returns seized Gaza aid: UN

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"The Islamist Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip have returned aid supplies they seized last week, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA said in a statement on Monday.

"The Hamas authorities in Gaza have returned to the UNRWA warehouses in Gaza City and Rafah all of the aid supplies confiscated on 03 and 05 February," it said.

"UNRWA will now lift the suspension on the import of its humanitarian supplies into Gaza, which went into effect on 05 February."

It said earlier that Hamas last week seized 200 tonnes of rice and flour brought into Gaza by UNWRA, and in a separate incident grabbed 3,500 blankets and more than 400 food parcels at gunpoint from a distribution store at a Gaza City refugee camp.

Hamas said over the weekend the supplies had been seized "by mistake."

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[Idealism]

1. How does one rob a food shelter "by mistake?"

I can understand if these were renegades that weren't acting on orders from leadership, but if that is the case why would they not admit that? Calling it a mistake is hilarious, did they think UNRWA wouldn't do anything about losing these supplies? Leads me to believe that this wasn't ordered...

[azurnoir]

2. I agree it sounded like

"renegade" Hamas people trying to make money in an "underground economy" situation, I have heard of something similar happening here in the US.

[Idealism]

3. Hate to bring up a metaphor involving this

but the Warsaw Ghetto had a famous "underground economy," too. There were underground sewage canals that enabled some things to be smuggled in. Some people managed to escape the ghetto through these tunnels as well, but the Nazi's caught on to it after awhile. The smuggling led to a black market of sorts that only the best-known members of the ghetto benefited from.

[Vegasaurus]

4. Poor analogy

The Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto were not living on billions of dollars of global aid like the Palestinians.

There was no UNWRA, or the like, taking care of them.

They had no terrorists as leaders.

Yours is a typically ridiculous analogy.

[Idealism]

5. It was a focused analogy, perhaps you should read it over

It focused solely on the black market of a locale that any exodus is forbade by authority.

Your analysis is lacking.

[Bodhi BloodWave]

7. Keep in mind who you are replying to

Any analysis on his part tends to be lacking(at least as long as its related to the Palestinians, and doubly so if WW2 is also mentioned)

[azurnoir]

6. that sounds more

like an analogy for the tunnels, what I was thinking of was something that I know of happening a number of years back, you've heard of the Toys for Tots program at Christmas time, well the cleaners in a building where one of the pick-up centers was located started stealing the toys and selling them "on the street" so to speak, it went on for a time undetected but when it was the people involved were quietly fired and there was no public announcement but it did happen.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

8. "Renegade" Hamas? Is thatthe same as in deniable if it gets out Hamas