An aid convoy that a US charity organised shared its coordinates with Israel. But Israel then used that information to strike the first vehicle in the convoy, killing five people.
The vehicles were carrying fuel and medical supplies to a hospital in Rafah city, south Gaza, late on Thursday 29 August.
Sandra Rasheed of Anvera, the charity, said:
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.
Israel targeting aid workers
This is not an isolated incident.
In May, Human Rights Watch documented eight incidents where aid convoys and workers shared their location with Israel, only for the state to have killed or injured a total of at least 31 people. Israel gave no warning before the attacks.
Aid organisations targeted include World Central Kitchen, Doctors Without Borders, International Rescue Committee, Medical Aid for Palestinians, American Near East Refugee Aid Organisation, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
The UN reports that Israel has killed at least 280 aid workers, the majority from UNRWA, since October.
The latest airstrike on aid workers came shortly after Israeli forces open fired on two clearly marked WFP trucks. Again, the organisation had liaised with Israel. It said:
Despite being clearly marked and receiving multiple clearances by Israeli authorities to approach, the vehicle was directly struck by gunfire as it was moving towards an Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) checkpoint. It sustained at least ten bullets: five on the driver’s side, two on the passenger side and three on other parts of the vehicle
This time, no one was injured. The vehicle had bulletproof glass. The UN’s WFP then announced it was suspending operations.
‘Starvation as a weapon’
It was December when Human Rights Watch said Israel is using starvation as a weapon of war, which is a war crime. Still, it goes on. As well as blocking critical aid trucks from entering Gaza, Israeli forces appear to be terrorising the aid workers cleared to enter to deter them from continuing.
On 25 June, the UN’s Famine Review Committee, analysing a report from Integrated Food Security, found:
The situation in Gaza remains catastrophic and there is a high and sustained risk of Famine across the whole Gaza Strip. It is important to note that the probable improvement in nutrition status noted in April and May should not allow room for complacency about the risk of Famine in the coming weeks and months. The prolonged nature of the crisis means that this risk remains at least as high as at any time during the past few months.
The FRC encourages all stakeholders who use the IPC for high-level decision-making to understand that whether a Famine classification is confirmed or not does not in any manner change the fact that extreme human suffering is without a doubt currently ongoing in the Gaza Strip, and does not change the immediate humanitarian imperative to address this civilian suffering by enabling complete, safe, unhindered, and sustained humanitarian access into and throughout the Gaza Strip, including through ceasing hostilities. All actors should not wait until a Famine classification is made to act accordingly.
On 26 August, Human Rights Watch noted that Israel’s restrictions on aid, as well as its siege and attacks, have facilitated a Polio outbreak in Gaza. Julia Bleckner, senior health and human rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, said:
If the Israeli government continues to block urgent aid and destroy water and waste management infrastructure, it will facilitate the spread of a disease that has been nearly eradicated globally
In the UK, meanwhile, foreign secretary David Lammy has remained remarkably silent on the latest Israeli strike on aid workers and the similar attacks before it.
Featured image via Al Jazeera – English – YouTube
