Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says Hamas attack has killed multiple aid workers
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Multiple aid workers were killed after a bus was attacked in Gaza on Wednesday night, according to a US-backed humanitarian aid organization which accused Hamas of carrying out the assault.
Hamas has yet to respond to the allegations.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a controversial US and Israeli-backed aid initiative, said that a bus carrying more than two dozen of its team members was attacked by Hamas at around 10 p.m. local time.
“We are still gathering facts, but what we know is devastating: there are at least five fatalities, multiple injuries, and fear that some of our team members may have been taken hostage,” GHF said in a statement.
The group was en route to a distribution center in the area west of Khan Younis, GHF said, adding further details would be provided once they became known.
“We condemn this heinous and deliberate attack in the strongest possible terms,” the GHF said in a statement.
The GHF also accused Hamas of repeatedly threatening the organization in recent days.
On Sunday, Hamas media said its forces have “full authority and mandate to strike decisively against any entity or individual collaborating with the enemy’s plans or with any rogue, criminal, or traitorous elements that violate the law and the traditions of our people.”
“All agents, thieves, and armed criminal gangs are considered legitimate targets for the resistance and its security apparatus,” the militant group said.
The GHF was established amid Israeli accusations that Hamas is stealing aid in Gaza and profiting off its sale but the organization has been controversial from the get-go and criticized by multiple international aid agencies.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains desperate.
Restrictions imposed by the Israeli military on aid routes, ongoing airstrikes, a lack of security and the continuous displacement of tens of thousands of people are aggravating an already alarming situation, according to the United Nations and other aid agencies. The supplies that do get in risk getting looted and only a fraction of what is needed is getting in.
Multiple Palestinians have been killed by gunfire near aid distribution sites since GHF began operations.
Late Wednesday the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said it “continues to receive reports from the Gaza Strip of people being killed and injured while trying to access food.” It did not specify any locations.
“OCHA reiterates in the strongest terms possible that no one should be forced to risk their lives to receive aid, as people across Gaza are at risk of famine,” it said.
Telecoms blackout
A near-total communications blackout in parts of Gaza has now lasted over 24 hours, internet monitoring site Netblocks has said, warning the disruption would hamper search, rescue and aid efforts in the enclave that has been battered by Israeli military strikes.
The disruption in Gaza City and northern Gaza is the longest in recent months and continues to “severely limit visibility into events on the ground,” the site said in a post on Wednesday.
The blackout affects both physical and wireless data connections, as well as mobile phone usage.
CNN’s team in Jerusalem has been unable to contact anyone in Gaza since Wednesday.
“The collapse of telecommunications services, internet connectivity and emergency communication systems is again a real threat,” the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Wednesday.
“This would cripple life-saving coordination and prevent affected communities from receiving critical information.”
Reports of disruptions in central and southern Gaza began to emerge Thursday.
“Metrics show further disruptions to internet connectivity across the Gaza Strip; the telecoms disruptions are likely to impact search, rescue and aid efforts,” Netblocks said in an update.
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Hamas murders 8 Israeli backed aid workers trying to feed civilians.
Fools will claim Israel is committing genocide.
Yeah, we can count on the usual supporters and sympathizers to call it genocide.
I'm confused, exactly what gene is being genocided? Are they not Arab, of which, no other Arab country wants?
Sadly these fools don't understand that losing a war you start is NOT genocide.
Not only that, the killings carried out by Hamas of not only the aid workers but its own people trying to get to the aid (in order to sabotage efforts to provide the aid) will be blamed by the UN and the bleeding hearts of the world on Israel.
Why do they do it? It's all part of the psychological method used by Hamas to villify Israel and it is working successfully all around the world, even on members of NT.
And to think among the dead could have been that loudmouthed Swedish kid that Israel just saved.
What is the over and under on when the first Antisemitic douchebag claims it was an Israeli false flag operation?
Why even try to help them?