The United States called on Israel to “immediately correct” its behavior after Israel claimed responsibility for a shooting incident involving a United Nations World Food Program (WFP) aid convoy in Gaza on Tuesday night. According to US officials, Israel attributed the incident to a communication error between army units.
“Aid workers are there to help innocent civilians, and Israel must ensure they are protected,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller wrote to X. Deputy US Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood confirmed that Jerusalem had informed Washington that the shooting was a miscommunication within the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Wood further stated during a UN Security Council meeting Thursday on Gaza, “We urged them to immediately fix the issues in their system.”
As of Friday afternoon, the IDF and other Israeli officials had yet to officially comment on the incident. On Wednesday, WFP announced the suspension of worker movements across Gaza after at least 10 bullets hit one of the vehicles they clearly marked near the Wadi Gaza bridge. No injuries were reported.
In a separate event, the IDF said it struck a group of gunmen who had hijacked an aid convoy in southern Gaza.
The convoy, coordinated by the American organization Near East Refugee Aid (Anera), entered the Rafah area with the coordination of the IDF.
The IDF claimed that armed men took control of a vehicle at the front of the convoy, leading to a strike that targeted only the hijacked car.
The rest of the convoy reached its destination without further incident.
Reports from the Guardian and the Washington Post say five people were killed during the attack, although it remains unclear whether the victims were gunmen or civilians.
Anera’s Palestine Director Sandra Rasheed confirmed that while one Anera employee was not injured, several people working for a partner transport company were killed in the attack.
“This is a shocking incident,” Rasheed said. “The convoy was coordinated and approved by the Israeli authorities. Tragically, several people in the first vehicle of the convoy were killed.”
The situation in Gaza remains tense, with Israel previously criticized for hitting aid convoys.
In April, the IDF accidentally targeted a World Central Kitchen aid convoy, killing seven aid workers.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, and caused widespread destruction and displacement.
Israel also faces charges of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered a halt to military operations in the southern town of Rafah. However, the order was not heeded.
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