The Israeli military carried out airstrikes on a humanitarian aid convoy in Gaza on 29 August, killing five employees of the transport company working with the US-based aid group that organized it, The Guardian reported on 30 August.
The convoy was organized by the NGO Anera. It was carrying medical supplies and fuel to an Emirati-run hospital in Rafah, a city on the Gaza–Egypt border.
Its route had been coordinated in advance with the Israeli military under a deconfliction process intended to prevent aid vehicles from being bombed.
Anera’s Palestine country director, Sandra Rasheed, told The Guardian, “This is a shocking incident. The convoy, which was coordinated by Anera and approved by Israeli authorities, included an Anera employee who was fortunately unharmed.”
“Tragically, several individuals, all employed by the transportation company we work with, were killed in the attack. They were in the first vehicle of the convoy,” Rasheed added.
The Israeli military confirmed the route had been coordinated but claimed its forces struck armed men seeking to hijack the convoy.
Just hours before the airstrike, Israeli soldiers opened fire on a World Food Programme (WFP) vehicle clearly marked with UN insignia. Israeli forces fired 10 bullets into the windows of the vehicle as it approached an army checkpoint in the Wadi Gaza area.
Because the vehicle was armored with reinforced glass, none of the passengers were killed or injured.
Cindy McCain, the head of the WFP, called the shooting “totally unacceptable.”
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