Hamas Shows More Signs of Weakening by Stealing from UN

Today, al-Arabiya is reporting that Hamas confiscated aid parcels from the UN that were later to be distributed to about 500 families, according to the UN.

UNRWA said Hamas had seized hundreds of food parcels and thousands of blankets destined for Gaza civilians in the wake of Israel's war and demanded their immediate return.

"At 14:30 on 3 February, over 3,500 blankets and 406 food parcels were confiscated from a distribution store at Beach Camp in Gaza by police personnel," it said in a statement.

It's unclear as to whether they confiscated the parcels to make sure top Hamas operators were taken care of or whether they wanted to control the distribution of which Gaza families received aid.

Either way, this act suggests that Hamas feels the need to be showing themselves as the providers for Gaza, and not relying on outside forces like the UN to take care of the citizens under their jurisdiction. This would show a sign of weakness internally.

At a time when sympathy in the international community for Gazans is high, Hamas pulls a stunt like this against the very symbol of the international community itself. Sadly, they would rather risk international support than show signs of weakness in Gaza.

Of course, this also comes on the day that Abbas announced $600 million in reconstruction aid for Gaza, mostly from foreign donors.

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