UAE aid official says Hamas purposefully fired at Israeli planes from Gaza hospital to provoke Israeli fire - while aid was being given.

Hamas tried to prevent the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza for the sake of political gain during Israel’s counterterrorism Operation Protective Edge in 2014, according to United Arab Emirates (UAE) Red Crescent Secretary General Mohammed Al Falahi, who oversaw the distribution of the aid.

At a lecture on Monday in the presence of UAE’s Crown Prince about the security challenges faced by the UAE during humanitarian activity, Al Falahi related that Hamas terrorists had intentionally fired on Israeli planes from a field hospital where Red Crescent workers were distributing aid, knowing that Israeli forces would fire back in retaliation.

"While we were in the field hospital that the UAE built, we were surprised by [...] someone from Hamas instigating Israeli forces by launching locally made rockets from the field hospital", he said, according to UAE paper The National.

Al Falahi called the Hamas action a “betrayal.”

"This shows [Hamas’] wicked intentions and how they sacrificed us," he said. "They always claim that the enemy targets humanitarian envoys but the betrayal came from them."

Al Falahi also claimed that Hamas had ordered “extremist militias” to attack the Red Crescent team on its return trip through the Sinai peninsula.

He said that as they were leaving Gaza "after having raised the white flag, Hamas accused us of being spies, undercover foreign intelligence who were escaping."

"And apparently they had informed extremist militias in Sinai and Sheikh Zuweid [in Egypt] that [we were] making [our] way there, so [they should] prepare for jihad against [us].

"So Muslims were fighting Muslims who were giving humanitarian aid to Muslims. As we stopped at a grocery to buy something to eat, they started shooting at us,” he said, also noting that his team had found landmines planted by the militias further along their path.

"What hurts is that the betrayal came from our own people," he concluded.