Israel launches airstrike on aid convoy in Gaza, fires 10 bullets at WFP vehicle

Shortly after Israel agreed to conduct a series of “humanitarian pauses” in Gaza to allow for the vaccination of children against polio, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said that it had carried out an airstrike on a humanitarian aid convoy present in the coastal enclave. In the latest update, the Israeli military reasoned that the airstrike was aimed at “armed assailants” who were “trying to highjack aid”.

However, the charity that organised the aid noted that the people who were killed in the strike were employees of the transport company it was working with, The Guardian reported. The convoy was organised by the US-based NGO Anera and was carrying medical supplies and fuel to an Emirati-run hospital in Rafah. It was attacked by the IDF on Thursday evening when the volunteers were heading to the Rafah hospital.

The airstrike came hours after the Israeli soldiers opened fire on a World Food Programme (WFP) vehicle clearly marked with UN insignia, travelling in a convoy of two, The Guardian reported.

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The WFP noted that the vehicle was hit by at least 10 bullets while it was approaching the IDF at the checkpoint. “As last night’s events show, the current deconfliction system is failing and this cannot go on any longer,” Cindy McCain, the head of the WFP said, calling the shooting “totally unacceptable”.

Five killed in the airstrike: Report

According to The Guardian, unconfirmed reports from Gaza noted that five people were killed in the airstrike. “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," Anera’s Palestine country director, Sandra Rasheed said in a separate statement.

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“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," she added.

Meanwhile, the IDF confirmed that the route had been coordinated, but claimed that “during the convoy’s movement, a number of armed assailants seized control of the vehicle in the front of the convoy (a Jeep) and began to lead it”.

“After the takeover and further verification that a precise strike on the armed assailants’ vehicle could be carried out, a strike was conducted," the Israeli military said in a statement. “No damage was caused to the other vehicles in the convoy and it reached its destination as planned. The strike on the armed assailants removed the threat of them seizing control over the humanitarian convoy," the military furthered. The IDF eventually confirmed that it contacted the Anera organisation and mentioned that the organisation had “verified that all of the convoy’s organisation members and humanitarian aid were safe and reached their destination as planned”.

While Anera confirmed that the convoy did reach the hospital, it said that only one person was travelling in the convoy an Anera employee. The rest worked for its partner transport company, which was not named. “We are urgently seeking further details about what happened,” Rasheed said.