Israeli Military Conducts Deadly Airstrike on Aid Convoy in Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have reported conducting an airstrike on a humanitarian aid convoy in Gaza, claiming it targeted “armed assailants” attempting to hijack the vehicles. However, the charity responsible for organizing the aid has stated that those killed in the attack were employees of the transport company working with them.

The convoy, coordinated by the US-based NGO Anera, was delivering medical supplies and fuel to a hospital operated by the Emirates in Rafah at the time of the incident on Thursday evening. The route had been previously arranged with the IDF as part of a deconfliction process aimed at preventing attacks on humanitarian vehicles.

Sandra Rasheed, Anera’s Palestine country director, expressed her shock at the incident, noting, “This is a shocking incident. The convoy was coordinated by Anera and approved by Israeli authorities, and it included an Anera employee who was fortunately unharmed.”

Rasheed added, “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.” Unconfirmed reports from Gaza indicated that five individuals lost their lives as a result of the airstrike.

Although the IDF acknowledged that the route had been coordinated with them, they asserted that during the convoy’s movement, armed assailants had seized control of a vehicle in the front. They described the vehicle as a Jeep, claiming the assailants began to take control of the convoy’s direction.

The IDF stated, “After the takeover and further verification that a precise strike could be conducted on the armed assailants’ vehicle, a strike was carried out.” They added that no damage was inflicted upon the remaining vehicles in the convoy, which ultimately arrived at its destination safely. According to the IDF, the strike eliminated the threat posed by those who had attempted to commandeer the humanitarian convoy.

The IDF claimed they contacted Anera following the incident, and that the aid organization confirmed the safety of all organizational members and that the humanitarian supplies reached their intended destination. However, Anera clarified that only one person in the convoy was their employee and stated they were seeking more details regarding the circumstances of the attack.

This airstrike came on the heels of a separate incident where Israeli soldiers fired upon a World Food Programme (WFP) vehicle adorned with UN insignia. This vehicle, part of a two-vehicle convoy, was struck by at least ten bullets as it neared an IDF checkpoint at Wadi Gaza. Fortunately, the vehicle’s reinforced glass provided protection, leading to no injuries among the occupants. However, the WFP temporarily halted all movement of its staff in Gaza as a precaution.

Cindy McCain, head of the WFP, condemned the shooting as “totally unacceptable.” She stated, “As last night’s events show, the current deconfliction system is failing, and this cannot go on any longer.” On April 1, the IDF had previously killed seven aid workers in a drone strike on a convoy organized by the World Central Kitchen charity.

In that earlier incident, the IDF admitted to “grave errors” committed by its officers, resulting in the firing of two individuals. They acknowledged that they had been informed of the planned convoy beforehand, yet the information had not been effectively communicated to operational units. An IDF investigation indicated that one officer believed they had spotted a gunman on the roof of a truck accompanying the charity’s vehicles while they were monitoring grainy surveillance footage, though no evidence supported the presence of any gunman.