Fatah Confirms Israeli Claim That Hamas Steals Food Aid

For months, the IDF has been telling the world that the problem in Gaza is not so much the absence of food, but the inability of the aid workers to distribute it to those people it was intended to reach. Instead, said the IDF, armed Hamas operatives steal much of the aid at gunpoint, taking whatever they want for themselves, their families, and their tribes. Much of the world has dismissed this claim, seeing it as a way for Israel to shift responsibility for the “food security crisis” in Gaza to Hamas. Now Fatah has come out with a charge that not only confirms that from Israel, but adds a new and damning claim: Hamas has actually been murdering aid workers who tried to resist its theft of humanitarian aid. More on this can be found here: “Fatah: Hamas kills aid workers and steals food for itself,” by Ephraim D. Tepler and Itamar Marcus, Palestinian Media Watch, April 21, 2024:

In an incredible and rare admission, Fatah has corroborated what Israel has been saying all along: that Hamas is responsible for turmoil connected to distribution of the humanitarian aid sent into Gaza. A Fatah TV anchor reported that throughout the war, Hamas has been committing what is essentially a triple crime—it has attacked and killed aid workers in order to control aid distribution, stolen the food and water for itself, and caused food prices to skyrocket.

Fatah-run Awdah TV host: “Hamas’ persecution of any party who is a source for distributing the [humanitarian] aid or securing it began from the start of the war (i.e., 2023 Gaza war), as Hamas persecuted well-known figures and teams of volunteers on the ground in mid-October [2023]. It attacked them and killed some of them for two reasons: Firstly, preventing any activity by any [other] party in the Gaza Strip; and secondly, ensuring Hamas control over the aid and its storage, which of course leads to these crazy and unreal prices that no one can pay in the shadow of this destruction. After the occupation (i.e., Israel) bombed storehouses controlled by Hamas, the accumulation of tons of various food and aid products that Hamas had taken exclusivity over became clear, at a time when the Gaza Strip is suffering from hunger.”

Part of an interview on Al-Jazeera TV from the Gaza Strip is shown:

Woman from the Gaza Strip: “The aid isn’t reaching all the people.”

Al-Jazeera TV reporter: “Few things are arriving and they [Hamas] claim they are distributing them.”

Woman: “It is all to their [own] homes. Let Hamas catch me and shoot me and do what they want to me.”

[Fatah Commission of Information and Culture, Facebook page, April 1, 2024]…

There you have it, from the Palestinians themselves. Hamas operatives have from the very beginning of the war been stealing much of the humanitarian aid sent to Gaza, taking it for themselves and their extended families, thus diminishing significantly what is left for ordinary Gazans. And worse, they have murdered aid workers trying to prevent their thefts. Now that Fatah has confirmed Israel’s claim about the theft of such aid, will the world admit it was wrong to doubt it? Of course not.