Hamas accuses Board of Peace of distorting Gaza flood crisis, overlooking Israel's role

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas accused the Board of Peace on Monday of giving a distorted account of Gaza’s flood crisis and overlooking Israel’s role in obstructing the US-backed peace plan.

Responding to a statement by the board on the floods, Hamas rejected blame for delays in implementing the roadmap, saying it and other Palestinian factions had already accepted it.

Earlier on Monday, the board criticised Israel’s delays in admitting essential supplies, saying they had worsened the humanitarian crisis. It also called on Hamas to fulfill its commitments, including laying down its weapons and transferring governing authority.

Hamas acknowledged the board’s criticism of Israel but said its account failed to address Israel’s broader responsibility for blocking implementation of President Donald Trump’s plan.

The group cited an August 3 statement by mediators Türkiye, Egypt and Qatar warning that Israeli violations were undermining the plan’s second phase.

It said turning lifesaving aid into political leverage violated humanitarian and legal obligations, with shelter supplies waiting outside Gaza while families displaced by Israel’s genocidal war faced flooding and cold.

“Children dying under the sand and in rainwater are not parties to the negotiations,” Hamas said, adding they must not be held hostage to Israel’s objectives.

The group urged the board to explain its own failure to address the disaster and secure Israel’s compliance with its first-phase commitments. It demanded that crossings be opened to relief, shelter and recovery supplies without political or security conditions.

Hamas also called for a timetable and a mechanism to verify implementation of the roadmap, including Israeli withdrawal and arrangements enabling the Palestinian committee tasked with administering Gaza to begin work.

It urged the board to publish a report identifying which commitments had been fulfilled, which were overdue and who was responsible for the delays.

The group reaffirmed its readiness to implement the agreed terms but rejected any new conditions that would change the sequence of obligations, delay Israel’s withdrawal or prolong civilian suffering.

A storm that struck Gaza on Friday evening flooded more than 70,000 tents and brought down dozens of war-damaged walls, according to the Government Media Office.

Two women and three children were killed late on Sunday when a sand embankment collapsed onto tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in Deir al Balah, Gaza’s civil defence said.

TRT World / Anadolu Agency — TRT World / Anadolu Agency

Photo: AA