Israel fires on WFP aid convoys in Gaza; UN slams 'horrifying' attack
Israeli soldiers opened fire on a United Nations aid convoy in central Gaza, the World Food Program, which condemned Israel in a statement on Monday.
The WFP said the Israeli army shot at least 16 bullets toward their convoy of three vehicles on Sunday, despite receiving necessary clearance from the military.
The WFP condemned the "horrifying" attack and said shooting at a clearly marked UN aid convoy was “absolutely unacceptable.”
It said that it was “just the latest example of the complex and dangerous working environment” confronting its teams.
None of the eight staff members were injured, the WFP said.
The development comes amid reports that an Israeli missile struck a flour distribution warehouse in central Gaza run by a UN aid partner at the weekend, leaving three humanitarian workers seriously injured.
UN agency teams in the vicinity of the storage depot described hearing people screaming after the strike.
In November, the occupation army struck a car belonging to the charity World Central Kitchen, killing seven employees, as they unloaded desperately needed aid brought by sea to the war-torn territory.
The WCK team was traveling in a deconflicted zone in two armored cars branded with the WCK logo and a soft skin vehicle.
On 1 April , 2024, an Israeli attack in Deir Al-Balah in Gaza on a convoy of three World Central Kitchen vehicles killed seven aid workers. AP
Outposts and vehicles belonging to various international organizations including the United Nations have been targeted by Israeli attacks and bombardments over the course of the 15-month war.
"In Gaza, there is no distinction. Humanitarian workers, whoever they are, have been regularly a target," the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) chief Philippe Lazzarini said.
"This blatant disregard cannot be the new norm," he added in a post on X.
The UNRWA said that since the genocidal Israeli war on Gaza began, 258 of its staff members have been killed, and at least 20 are being held in Israeli detention centres. Those previously released have described suffering "systematic mistreatment, humiliation, and torture."
Lazzarini said on Tuesday that nearly 650 incidents were recorded against buildings and facilities belonging to the agency.
He added that over two-thirds of its buildings and schools have been damaged or destroyed, noting that the vast majority were used as schools for children before the war.
In May, Human Rights Watch concluded that Israel attacks known aid worker locations in Gaza, killing at least 15 people, including two children. A HRW reportdetailed at least eight incidents, exposing serious flaws in the "deconfliction" system designed to protect aid workers and ensure the safe delivery of humanitarian assistance in Gaza.
“The number of aid workers killed in Gaza in the past year is the highest ever in a single crisis,” the UN said.
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