Hamas: 'Israel' continues to use starvation as weapon
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Hamas expressed that the enemy aims to "punish our Palestinian people and force them to emigrate from their land, under the weight of famine and continuing massacres."
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Palestinians walk through the destruction left by the Israeli air and ground attack on the Gaza Strip near Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Palestine, Monday, April 1, 2024 (AP Photo/Mohammed Hajjar)
The Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, has expressed that "Israel's" refusal to allow UNRWA to transport aid to northern Gaza constitutes a weapon of starvation, forcing the Palestinians to flee their homes.
The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, expressed outrage on Tuesday over the killing of seven foreign aid workers in Gaza, who died as a result of a targeted airstrike by Israeli forces.
The aid workers were part of a US-based charity organization called World Central Kitchen and were sent on a mission to deliver food to civilians in the Strip.
"How many more lives will be lost until there's a cease-fire? We are outraged by the killing of humanitarian workers in Gaza," Ghebreyesus said on X.
How many more lives will be lost until there's a ceasefire?
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) April 2, 2024
We are outraged by the killing of humanitarian workers in #Gaza. Safety is a basic requirement for the delivery of life-saving aid.
Our deepest condolences to the @WCKitchen team and affected families.
We once again… https://t.co/Mj4pQc2F1f
Hamas expressed that the enemy aims to "punish our Palestinian people and force them to emigrate from their land, under the weight of famine and continuing massacres."
Hamas also called on the international community and the United Nations to “take immediate action and put pressure on the criminal Zionist entity to stop its declared crime of using starvation as a weapon.”
Likewise, Hamas called for the need to "stand against his targeting of UNRWA, and take actual steps to hold him accountable for his ongoing crimes against defenseless civilians in the Gaza Strip, and against all the values ​​of humanity."
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) announced on Wednesday that 176 of its employees have been tragically killed since the beginning of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.
In an official statement on its website, the agency explained that the war on Gaza “recorded the largest number of aid workers killed in any conflict.”
The agency emphasized that many of those killed had been targeted while performing their duty, stressing that humanitarian workers are not legitimate targets and must be protected at all times.
The agency noted in its statement that “Israel is still preventing our employees from reaching northern Gaza, to provide food aid and basic supplies,” noting that “more than half of the supplies delivered through the Rafah and 'Kerem Shalom' border crossings last month belonged to UNRWA.”
🔹176 @UNRWA staff were tragically killed since the beginning of the war in #Gaza
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) April 3, 2024
🔹In March over half of @UN supplies delivered via Rafah and Kerem Shalom were UNRWA's
🔹Israeli authorities continue to deny UNRWA access to the north with food assistance & other basic supplies
Seven aid workers from Poland, Australia, Ireland, and the United Kingdom were among those killed in an Israeli airstrike on Deir al-Balah that targeted a vehicle belonging to the international aid organization and celebrity chef Jose Andres' World Central Kitchen.
The IOF killed five volunteers from the WAC, they are (Polish, Australian, Irish and British), in a terrorist attack in Deir al-Balah in the central of #Gaza Strip.
— Juaan (@MeditourJab) April 1, 2024
Will the hypocritical world be shaken now because they are not Palestinians? https://t.co/St02Si2PTf
WCK, Hamas condemn the Israeli crime
The World Central Kitchen said in a post on X that it was "aware of reports" that members of its staff had been killed in an Israeli attack while working to support humanitarian food delivery efforts in Gaza.
"This is a tragedy. Humanitarian aid workers and civilians should NEVER be a target. EVER," it stressed.
The chief executive of the WCK, Erin Gore, condemned "Israel's" attack, saying "This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable."
The NGO's founder Chef Jose Andres said the World Central Kitchen "lost several of our sisters and brothers" in an Israeli airstrike.
"I am heartbroken and grieving for their families and friends and our whole WCK family."
Hamas said it condemns in the strongest terms the Israeli targeting of workers in the World Central Kitchen, south of Deir al-Balah.
It pointed out in a statement that the crime reaffirms that "Israel" still insists on its policy of systematic killing against unarmed civilians, international relief teams, and humanitarian organizations, as part of its efforts to terrorize workers in these fields and prevent them from pursuing their humanitarian missions.
The Palestinian Resistance group called on the international community and the UN Security Council to condemn this heinous act and take action to put an end to the Israeli crimes and aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza.
