On Saturday evening, Shehab reported, quoting sources, that among the dead were 12 civilians who were on their way to receive humanitarian aid when they were targeted by Israeli fire near food distribution points. The agency clarified that the killing of the 36 Palestinians adds to the ongoing record of violations against civilian residents in a new massacre amid severe deterioration and continued suffocating blockade, amidst warnings from international organizations of a famine threatening the lives of hundreds of thousands, especially children and patients.
In the same context, Izzat al-Rishq, a member of the political bureau of the Hamas movement, condemned the accusations by US President Donald Trump against his movement of stealing and selling humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip. Al-Rishq described Trump’s statements as “Israeli lies that exonerate the criminal and hold the victim accountable,” noting that Trump does not tire of repeating Israeli accusations and lies, and “we will not tire of rejecting and refuting them.” Al-Rishq asserted in a press statement that these claims are “invalid and not based on any evidence,” pointing out that reports from international organizations, including the United Nations, as well as an internal investigation by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), refuted these allegations and confirmed that there are no reports proving Hamas’s theft of aid.
He called on the US administration to “stop viewing the situation through Israeli eyes” and to assume its “moral and legal responsibilities” by condemning the war of starvation and the unjust blockade, stopping support for the occupation, and supporting the safe and complete entry of aid through the United Nations, rather than through what he described as “humanitarian traps in Gaza used to kill the hungry.”
Earlier, US President Donald Trump revealed his efforts to prepare a plan to provide food to residents in the Gaza Strip, affirming that helping civilians to live “should have happened a long time ago.” Trump expressed to American media his concern about reports of famine in the sector but accused Hamas of “stealing and selling humanitarian aid entering Gaza.” In a related context, Trump praised, without specifying the nature of the work, noting that he has not yet received a briefing regarding his recent visit to Gaza.
