DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — An Israeli military strike hit the first vehicle in a convoy carrying medical supplies and fuel to an Emirati hospital in the Gaza Strip, killing four Palestinians from a local transportation company, officials said Friday.
The Israeli military insisted the four men were carrying weapons while the American Near East Refugee Aid group said the missile strike on Thursday came without any warning or prior communication with soldiers.
The incident underlines the dangers posed to aid groups since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.
More than 80% of the Palestinian territory’s 2.3 million people have been displaced, with most now living in squalid tent camps. International experts say hundreds of thousands of people are on the brink of famine.
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The strike happened as the aid group was bringing supplies to the Emirates Red Crescent Hospital in the town of Rafah, said Sandra Rasheed, Anera’s director for the Palestinian territories. It hit the convoy’s first vehicle on the Salah al-Din Road, she said.
“The convoy, which was coordinated by Anera and approved by Israeli authorities, included an Anera employee who was fortunately unharmed,” Rasheed said. “Despite this devastating incident, our understanding is that the remaining vehicles in the convoy were able to continue and successfully deliver the aid to the hospital. We are urgently seeking further details about what happened.”
A later statement from Anera said four Palestinians were killed. The group said its “coordinated and cleared transport plan called for unarmed security guards in the convoy” with its local partner, a company called Move One.
The Israeli military, responding to questions from The Associated Press, said it was "monitoring the situation" and saw "armed individuals joined one of the cars of an Anera convoy and began to lead the convoy."
The Israeli military did not address why it didn't contact Anera before conducting the strike.
Israeli forces have opened fire on other aid convoys in the Gaza Strip. The World Food Program announced Wednesday it paused all staff movement in Gaza until further notice over Israeli troops opening fire on one of its marked vehicles, hitting it with at least 10 rounds. The shooting came despite having received multiple clearances from Israeli authorities.
On July 23, UNICEF said two of its vehicles were hit with live ammunition while waiting at a designated holding point. An Israeli attack in April hit three World Central Kitchen vehicles, killing seven people.
West Bank
Meanwhile, Palestinian health authorities said the death toll from Israel’s most intensive raid into the occupied West Bank since the start of the Israel-Hamas war reached at least 20.
Israel continued the operation in the flashpoint city of Jenin late Friday as international criticism mounted.
The Palestinian Health Ministry reported Israeli forces killed “an elderly man” in the city of Jenin, without specifying his age, bringing the death toll from the military raids in the occupied territory to 20 since late Tuesday. Israel claims it killed 20 Palestinian militants and arrested 17 others. Hamas claimed at least 10 of those killed as its fighters.
Israeli forces killed more than 660 Palestinians in the West Bank, including at least 150 children, since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
The war began with a Hamas attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7. The fighting killed about 1,200 people and militants took about 250 hostages. The devastating Israel offensive in Gaza since then killed more than 40,000 Palestinians and raised fears of a regional war breaking out.
The climbing deaths in the West Bank drew further international criticism of Israeli tactics Friday, with European Union chief diplomat Josep Borrel saying Israel’s operations were “worsening an already tense situation.”
“Any escalation is a disaster in the making,” he added. “Israel’s genuine security concerns cannot justify civilian casualties and the destruction of infrastructure.”
The Israeli incursion in Jenin left a trail of destruction and cut off running water, internet and electricity in the city.
The Israeli military claims the raids are necessary to crack down on surging Palestinian militancy in the northern West Bank. The Palestinians see them as a widening of the war in Gaza and an effort to perpetuate Israel’s decadeslong military rule over the territory.
Late Friday, Israeli soldiers shot and killed two Palestinians suspected of attempting to attack Israelis in two separate incidents in the West Bank.
The Israeli army said troops responding to a vehicle catching fire and exploding at a gas station in the Gush Etzion junction killed a suspected assailant “who exited the vehicle and attempted to attack” the soldiers.
In a second incident, assailants rammed a car into the gates leading into the West Bank settlement of Karmei Tzur and infiltrated the settlement. One assailant was killed.
Large security forces were dispatched to the area in search of other assailants, the army said.
Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said it was treating three people for moderate and light injuries.
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