(Newser) – Hamas police in Gaza seized thousands of blankets and food parcels meant for needy residents, the AP reports, threatening to fracture relations between the international agency that cares for most of Gaza's residents and the territory's militant rulers. A UN spokesman called the incident "absolutely unacceptable."

Hamas policemen forcibly broke into an aid warehouse in Gaza City last night and confiscated 3,500 blankets and more than 4,000 food parcels—aid meant for 500 families—after UN officials refused to voluntarily hand it over to the Hamas-run Ministry of Social Affairs, the UN says. The UN provides food, education, and health care to more than half of Gaza's residents. (Read more United Nations stories.)

