(JNS.org) The Hamas terror group confiscates 95 percent of the cement Israel transfers to Gaza for the rebuilding of the territory, diverting the cement to “military purposes,” Israeli Foreign Ministry Director-General Dore Gold said in an address at the United Nations World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul. “From our own investigations we found that out of every 100 sacks of cement that come into the Gaza Strip [from Israel], only five or six are transferred to civilians,” Gold said. “A hundred sacks is what is necessary to rebuild a home, the rest are confiscated by Hamas and used for military purposes.”

“Since October, Israel has let into Gaza 4,824,000 tons of building materials…but these have often times been seized and used to build new attack tunnels penetrating Israeli territory,” he added, the Jerusalem Post reported. Nevertheless, Israel “will continue to adhere to humanitarian standards despite the security risks and unfair political pressures it has to face,” said Gold.