Gaza’s government media office has slammed the Israeli government for “promoting lies” about the control of aid in northern Gaza, amid Israeli claims Hamas was stealing aid from civilians in the territory, Al Jazeera reports.

“We categorically deny the false claims,” the office said, referring to a joint statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday, which claimed that Hamas was taking control of humanitarian aid entering northern Gaza and stealing it from civilians.

Gaza’s government media office said that the claims of Hamas stealing the aid were false, and that the aid convoys had in fact been “secured” by Palestinian families and clans, “without any interference from the Palestinian government or factions”.

“This was a popular stance on their part, aimed at providing crumbs of food to hundreds of thousands of starving civilians,” the statement said.

It slammed the Israeli government for pushing “cheap lies” that it said were intended to “legitimise the continued blockade”.