The U.N. has quietly acknowledged that aid meant for civilians in Gaza has been obstructed and taken by the territory’s ruling forces, a concession that undercuts years of blame aimed solely at Israel.
The United Nations has long behaved as if it were pleading Israel’s case was the only problem in Gaza, even after October 7, 2023, when violence escalated. For months the U.N. accused Israel of ‘genocide,’ dismissed reports of Hamas’ sexual violence, and insisted Israel was blocking enough aid. That tilt toward excuses for Hamas has been glaring to anyone watching closely.
Governments and independent observers repeatedly warned that Hamas fighters were hijacking humanitarian shipments, diverting supplies to fighters or selling them on the black market. Those claims were dismissed at the time as partisan or conspiratorial. Now, for the first time in months, the U.N. has publicly acknowledged obstruction and interference with aid deliveries.
The admission came in a statement from the U.N. Deputy Special Coordinator, Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov, which spelled out how humanitarian operations were being blocked and staff intimidated. That statement lays responsibility at the feet of the de facto authorities who have been controlling Gaza. The specifics are chilling in their familiarity to anyone who has tracked the conflict.
I strongly condemn the recent obstruction of humanitarian operations in Gaza by the de facto authorities, which endangered humanitarian personnel, intimidated workers delivering lifesaving food assistance and disrupted life-saving humanitarian operations.
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Yesterday, humanitarian workers were forced to halt food distributions after armed personnel affiliated with the de facto authorities forcibly entered the Abu Rashid food distribution point in Jaballa, North Gaza. The forces also entered a WFP warehouse and reportedly assaulted two truck drivers who were delivering humanitarian supplies.
These incidents are not isolated. They are completely unacceptable and reflect an increasingly dangerous pattern of intimidation, violence, and obstruction, including smuggling attempts, targeting and abusing humanitarian operations. They are placing humanitarian workers at risk, disrupting the delivery of life-saving assistance, and further constraining the ability of humanitarian organizations to operate at a time when civilians across Gaza continue to face immense and pressing humanitarian conditions.
Direct threats to staff, interference with humanitarian supplies, and the shrinking humanitarian operating space continue to jeopardize operational continuity. At the same time, the expansion of areas under Israeli control is further reducing the space available to civilians, making it imperative that humanitarian assistance is able to move safely and reach people in need without interference.
Under international humanitarian law, all parties must respect and protect humanitarian personnel, facilities, and relief supplies, and refrain from actions that obstruct humanitarian operations.
I call for an immediate end to all interference with humanitarian operations and to respect their independence, impartiality, and neutrality. Civilians, including humanitarian personnel, must always be protected, and rapid, safe and unimpeded passage of impartial humanitarian relief must be facilitated.
The people of Gaza have already endured immense suffering. They cannot be subjected to further delays or disruptions in the delivery of life-saving assistance. I reiterate that humanitarian organizations must be able to carry out their work safely, independently, impartially, and without fear of intimidation or violence.
The statement is welcome, but the language is careful and guarded, refusing to call out the real culprit by name. The U.N. keeps using the phrase ‘de facto authorities’ rather than saying Hamas, even though those are the people who run Gaza and were elected by the people there. That reluctance to name the problem has had real consequences for relief workers on the ground.
At the same time, the U.N. still tries to spread responsibility around and nudges toward blaming Israel in the same breath. It mentions Israel and highlights access issues, creating room for moral equivalence between a sovereign state defending itself and an armed group siphoning humanitarian aid. That framing protects Hamas from full accountability.
The overall posture from the international bureaucracy reads as defensive, as if admitting Hamas is the problem would force a different kind of political response. The U.N. keeps treating Hamas like a neutral local authority rather than an active, ruthless militant organization. That stubborn refusal to name reality undermines any real chance to secure aid delivery.
Skeptics will note how rare it is to get even this mild rebuke, which suggests the situation on the ground is dire. The tone remains tepid and bureaucratic, full of calls for neutrality and safe passage without detailing how to make it happen. The result is words without the tough steps necessary to protect civilians from predatory armed groups.
Even the concession the U.N. made feels watered down, a public relations move more than a pivot to effective action. There is no clear plan in that language to stop armed actors from seizing supplies or to secure distribution points for civilians. Until the U.N. pushes for robust, enforceable measures, these statements are little more than language.
Never forget how odd it is when the U.N. finally issues a public rebuke; it usually takes a catastrophe to pry criticism out of the institution. When international actors speak softly while armed groups act violently, the real victims are ordinary people waiting for food, medicine, and shelter. That should be the only focus—protecting civilians and making sure aid reaches them intact.
Hamas has shown it will exploit any system to its own ends, living off suffering and using civilians as cover. The U.N. must stop enabling that pattern by pretending the problem is simply logistics or access. Name the actors, secure the routes, protect relief workers, and stop pretending neutrality is a shield when neutrality shelters criminals.
