Hamas stole the humanitarian aid you gave to Gaza? Blame Israel
'I saw Hamas terrorists carrying boxes with the UN and UNRWA emblems on them into the tunnel. Dozens and dozens of boxes paid by your governments'
“My name is Eli Sharabi. I am 53 years old. I’ve come back from hell.” He spoke at the UN Security Council on March 20, nine days after his release from Hamas captivity.
Sharabi described the fate of humanitarian assistance in Gaza.
“I know that you’ve discussed the humanitarian situation in Gaza very often. But let me tell you, as an eyewitness, I saw what happened to that aid: Hamas stole it. I saw Hamas terrorists carrying boxes with the UN and UNRWA emblems on them into the tunnel. Dozens and dozens of boxes paid by your governments. Feeding terrorists who tortured me and murdered my family. They would eat many meals a day from the UN aid in front of us and we never received any of it. When you speak of humanitarian aid, remember this: Hamas eats like kings while hostages starve. Hamas steals from civilians. Hamas blocks aid from reaching those who truly need it.”
Sharabi was freed on February 8, weighing only 44kg. When Hamas paraded him as a trophy during a humiliating release ceremony, there was a stark contrast between those with access to humanitarian supplies and those without. The sight of well-fed Hamas terrorists and cheering crowds contrasted with starved and mistreated hostages.
Approaching the end of the 42-day agreed ceasefire on March 1, Israel proposed extending the truce for another six weeks into mid-April in return for living hostages held by Hamas. Then followed an impasse, as Hamas refused, insisting on proceeding to negotiate a distinct new phase of the ceasefire.
On March 2, Israel announced that it would not allow humanitarian assistance of the same expedited volumes and on March 9 that it would not continue to provide electricity. Then, on March 18, Israel returned to war against Hamas.
Last week, on March 27, the Israeli High Court rejected a petition by left-wing and Arab organisations to compel Israel to resume aid flows into Gaza. The Court held unanimously that Israel’s actions are legal under the international laws of armed conflict.
Yet on March 4 Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner-General of UNRWA condemned the halt in Israeli assistance and said that humanitarian aid must continue to flow at a scale similar to the ceasefire. Ironically, on February 11, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres halted humanitarian aid to Sa’ada governorate, Yemen, due to Houthi militants taking eight UN personnel hostage.
Nevertheless, some UN human rights groups criticise Israel’s actions as a breach of responsibilities for humanitarian aid set out in the Geneva Conventions. The Fourth Geneva Convention identifies two circumstances requiring the delivery of humanitarian aid, which are either an armed conflict (Article 23) or an occupation (Article 59).
Critics often point to Article 59, which requires a higher duty to facilitate aid delivery, but the argument of occupation is baseless. Under an occupation, an armed conflict is not still ongoing, and the occupying power would maintain its presence where the population is under its authority. However, this is clearly not the current reality, as was recognised by the Israeli High Court. Israel is not legally obliged under Article 59.
The applicable legal provision is Article 23 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which requires a party at war to allow humanitarian aid to be delivered to an enemy civilian population, but only if it does not reinforce the enemy’s war capability. The IDF has no obligation to supply food, fuel, electricity or medical supplies to a territory under enemy control or deliver it but has the right to check all aid before its delivery to ensure no weaponry or war material is being smuggled in.
Reports have shown that Hamas seizes humanitarian aid and, at times, shoots Palestinians trying to retrieve it. Hamas then uses or sells the aid to secure funds to pay recruits. Israel is in no way under a duty itself to provide aid to the benefit of Hamas and has every right to regulate, inspect and, if necessary, halt aid deliveries.
Despite 251 Israeli residents kidnapped and held hostage by Hamas, Israel provided free water and electricity and allowed supervised access for humanitarian aid into Gaza throughout the war that Hamas initiated. Israel facilitated the delivery of over 1.3 million tonnes of humanitarian aid into Gaza during just the six weeks of the recent ceasefire. Months of humanitarian aid is now stored in Gaza. Hamas has taken the benefit but refuses to release the remaining 59 hostages it kidnapped, among whom only 24 are still living.
By allowing Hamas’s terrorism from October 7, including diversion of humanitarian aid away from the Gazan civilian population, the United Nations gives Hamas moral support for its crimes. Eli Sharabi can tell you all about it.
Greg Rose is a professor of international law at the University of Wollongong, Australia. Michael Pushenko a legal intern at The Hague Initiative for International Cooperation.
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