Palestinian gunman hijacked and robbed four United Nations relief trucks carrying baby formula at gunpoint Thursday in Gaza.
UNICEF said the trucks were carrying enough formula to feed 2,700 babies in the Gaza war zone.
The UN agency said “armed gunmen” commandeered and the truck right outside the UNICEF compound in Gaza.
Israel’s relief agency COGAT said it was Hamas gunmen who stole the baby formula.
“Hamas terrorists brazenly robbed 4 UNICEF aid trucks carrying baby formula at gunpoint,” COGAT said in a statement.
“According to UNICEF, this violent theft has deprived 2,700 babies of the formula. While Israel allows the entry of vital baby food into Gaza, Hamas steals it in order to profit from the public,’ the Israeli agency said. “This is the truth: Hamas does not safeguard the people of Gaza. It exploits them, abandons them, and even steals from their children.”
The Israeli agency also chided UNICEF for referring to robbers as “armed individuals” rather than assigning blame to Hamas, which governs Gaza.
UNICEF did say “this theft has denied at least 2,700 severely and acutely malnourished children” needed aid.
Israel accuses Hamas of stealing relief aid sent into Gaza during the ongoing war, which ignited after the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks.
More than 65,000 Palestinians and close to 2,100 Israelis have died in the war. Hamas also still holds an estimated 20 living hostages taken during the Oct. 2023 attacks inside Israel.
The baby formula theft comes after five Democratic U.S. Senators — including Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly of Arizona, Tim Kaine of Virginia and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts — wrote U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanded a surge in baby formula into Gaza to help infants in the war zone.