Several aid workers have been killed following the attack of a bus in Gaza on Wednesday night by a US-backed humanitarian aid organization that blamed Hamas as having conducted the attack.Hamas is yet to react to the accusations.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US and Israeli-sponsored humanitarian project, claimed that a bus with at least 25 members of its humanitarian team was targeted by Hamas at about 10 p.m. local time.Facts are still being established, but what is known is horrifying, there are at least five dead, several injured and fear that some of our team members were seized as hostages, GHF explained in a statement.The convoy was heading to a distribution center in the west of Khan Younis, GHF said, without giving further details that it would give later when they were known.The GHF said in a statement it “condemns this terrible and intentional attack in the strongest terms possible.”The GHF also blamed Hamas for threatening to attack the organization several times over the past days.
Hamas media reported on Sunday that its forces are granted by the authority and mandate to deal a decisive blow to any entity or person that collaborates with the plans of the enemy or any rogue, criminal, or traitorous elements that are beyond the law and the traditions of our people.The militant group said all agents, thieves and armed criminal gangs were legitimate targets of the resistance and its security apparatus.
The GHF was formed in the midst of Israeli allegations that Hamas is stealing in the aid in Gaza and selling it but the group has been questionable since its inception and has been slammed by various international aid organizations.Humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to be desperate.The Israeli military limitations on aid deliveries, constant airstrikes, absence of security and displacement of tens of thousands of people continuously are worsening an already worrying situation, the United Nations and other aid agencies warned. The supplies which are arriving are being looted and only a small part of the requirements are arriving.Since GHF started its activities, several Palestinians were shot dead around distribution points of aids.Late Wednesday the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that it “still receives reports of people being killed and injured in the Gaza Strip in attempts to access food.” It failed to name any venues.
OCHA again stresses in the strongest terms that no-one should be forced to take risks with their lives to obtain aid as people in Gaza in general are at risk of famine.Telecoms blackoutAn almost complete communications blackout in areas of Gaza has now exceeded 24 hours, internet watchdog Netblocks said, stating the outage would impede search, rescue and aid efforts in the enclave which has been pounded by Israeli military attacks.This disruption in Gaza City and northern Gaza is the most prolonged in recent months and it has continued to provide a serious hindrance to visibility with regard to events on the ground, the site said in a posting on Wednesday.