❗️Hamas accuses Board of Peace official of echoing Israeli claims over Gaza goods restrictions

Hamas has accused 'Board of Peace' Director-General Nickolay Mladenov of "blatant bias and complicity with the occupation" after he repeated Israeli allegations that the Palestinian resistance movement was coercing merchants and obstructing the entry of private-sector goods into Gaza.

In a statement, Hamas rejected the accusations as baseless, saying Mladenov had adopted the Israeli government’s narrative and its pretexts for restricting the entry of goods into the besieged Strip.

Mladenov said on Thursday that he had received a report from the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli war ministry body overseeing civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories, blaming Hamas for the suspension of private-sector goods entering Gaza.

Hamas denied imposing taxes on merchants or threatening them, challenging the Board of Peace official’s account as the population continues to face severe restrictions on the entry of essential supplies.