JERUSALEM (AFP) – The Islamist Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip have returned aid supplies they seized last week, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA said in a statement on Monday.
"The Hamas authorities in Gaza have returned to the UNRWA warehouses in Gaza City and Rafah all of the aid supplies confiscated on 03 and 05 February," it said.
"UNRWA will now lift the suspension on the import of its humanitarian supplies into Gaza, which went into effect on 05 February."
It said earlier that Hamas last week seized 200 tonnes of rice and flour brought into Gaza by UNWRA, and in a separate incident grabbed 3,500 blankets and more than 400 food parcels at gunpoint from a distribution store at a Gaza City refugee camp.
Hamas said over the weekend the supplies had been seized "by mistake."
UNRWA plays a key role in distributing aid in Gaza and says it currently hands out food assistance to some 900,000 people out of a population of 1.5 million.
Humanitarian workers say the aid is crucial as the population struggles with the aftermath of Israel's crushing military assault on the impoverished Palestinian enclave which left more than 1,300 dead and razed over 14,000 homes.
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