US-backed aid group says Hamas attacked aid convoy in Gaza, killing at least 8 Palestinian

A US and Israel-backed aid group operating in Gaza has claimed that Hamas militants attacked a bus carrying Palestinian aid workers late Wednesday night, killing at least eight people.

According to a BBC report, the incident reportedly took place as the vehicle was en route to a distribution centre in southern Gaza.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which was launched on May 26 to coordinate aid deliveries outside of the United Nations system, said the attack followed several days of threats from Hamas. It also said that some of its workers may have been taken hostage during the incident, added the report.

“We condemn this heinous and deliberate attack in the strongest possible terms,” BBC quoted Gaza Humanitarian Foundation as saying in a statement.

The BBC, however, has not independently verified the GHF’s claims, and Hamas has not issued a statement.

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However, the militant group has previously denied threatening staff associated with the foundation.

The GHF’s operations have been controversial from the outset. Established to bypass the UN and other established international agencies, the foundation has faced criticism for undermining key humanitarian principles such as neutrality, impartiality, and independence. The UN and several aid organisations have refused to cooperate with the group.

Violence has plagued GHF’s efforts almost daily since its inception, with multiple deadly incidents reported near its distribution hubs.

Meanwhile, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry reported that 103 Palestinians were killed and over 400 injured in Israeli strikes across the territory in the past 24 hours. Among the dead, 21 were reportedly killed near designated aid distribution zones on Tuesday morning.

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The Israeli military has not independently confirmed the allegation but did share a portion of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s (GHF) statement, adding, “Hamas will stop at nothing to maintain control and prevent the effective delivery of aid.”

GHF’s interim director, John Acree, said the organisation considered shutting down its distribution centres on Thursday in response to the attack but ultimately decided to keep them operational.

“We decided that the best response to Hamas’ cowardly murderers was to keep delivering food for the people of Gaza who are counting on us,” BBC quoted him as saying in a statement.

The GHF accused Hamas on Saturday of issuing threats that made it “impossible” to operate. Hamas rejected the claim, calling the GHF effort a “complete failure on all levels.”

The GHF’s aid mechanism has drawn sharp criticism for being both inadequate and inhumane, requiring civilians to risk their lives by traveling to overcrowded distribution hubs. Since the group began operations, deadly shootings—by both Israeli forces and armed Palestinians—have occurred near its four centres almost daily.

On Wednesday, at least 25 people were killed near a GHF site in Gaza’s Netzarim corridor, according to local hospitals. Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry reports that 245 people have died and over 2,150 have been injured while trying to access aid zones since GHF began distributing supplies.

While the US and Israel argue the GHF prevents aid from being diverted by Hamas, the UN disputes the scale of such theft, and Hamas denies any involvement.

Meanwhile, Gaza’s last fibre optic cable was reportedly damaged in an attack on Thursday, causing a complete outage of internet and landline services. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said the blackout was hampering its emergency operations.

The war, triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 assault on southern Israel that killed around 1,200 people and led to 251 kidnappings, has devastated Gaza’s infrastructure. Since then, Gaza’s health ministry says at least 55,104 people have been killed in the Israeli military campaign.

With inputs from agencies