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<div class="gmail-inner-article-top"><h1 class="gmail-">Israeli airstrike on humanitarian aid convoy leaves five dead</h1><p class="gmail-">The
convoy was carrying medical supplies and fuel and was attacked just
hours after Israeli forces opened fire on a World Food Programme vehicle
as well</p><div class="gmail-another-name"><p><a href="https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9" style="color:rgb(164,4,4)">News Desk</a></p></div><div class="gmail-another-name" style="margin-top:16px"><p><span>AUG 30, 2024 - </span><font size="1"><a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/israeli-airstrike-on-humanitarian-aid-convoy-leaves-five-dead">https://thecradle.co/articles/israeli-airstrike-on-humanitarian-aid-convoy-leaves-five-dead</a></font></p></div></div><div class="gmail-inner-article-img"><img src="http://thecradle-main.oss-eu-central-1.aliyuncs.com/public/articles/ca4c87f8-66b6-11ef-b195-00163e02c055.webp" alt="" width="454" height="255" style="margin-right: 0px;"><span>Trucks
of Egyptian Red Crecent carrying humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip
cross the Rafah border gate, in Rafah, Egypt, October 21, 2023. (Photo
credit: Mohammed Asad/AP)</span></div><div class="gmail-inner-article-content"><div class="gmail-row"><div class="gmail-col-md-8 gmail-col-sm-7"><div class="gmail-article-content"><span><p>The
Israeli military carried out airstrikes on a humanitarian aid convoy in
Gaza on 29 August, killing five employees of the transport company
working with the US-based aid group that organized it, <i>The Guardian </i><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/29/israel-airstrike-aid-convoy-gaza">reported</a> on 30 August.</p><p>The
convoy was organized by the NGO Anera. It was carrying medical supplies
and fuel to an Emirati-run hospital in Rafah, a city on the Gaza–Egypt
border.</p><p>Its route had been coordinated in advance with the Israeli
military under a deconfliction process intended to prevent aid vehicles
from being bombed.</p><p>Anera’s Palestine country director, Sandra Rasheed, told <i>The Guardian</i>,
“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.”</p><p>“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,” Rasheed
added.</p><p>The Israeli military confirmed the route had been
coordinated but claimed its forces struck armed men seeking to hijack
the convoy.</p><p>Just hours before the airstrike, Israeli soldiers
opened fire on a World Food Programme (WFP) vehicle clearly marked with
UN insignia. Israeli forces fired 10 bullets into the windows of the
vehicle as it approached an army checkpoint in the Wadi Gaza area.</p><p>Because the vehicle was armored with reinforced glass, none of the passengers were killed or injured.</p><p>Cindy McCain, the head of the WFP, called the shooting “totally unacceptable.”</p><p>On
1 April, the Israeli military killed seven aid workers in a drone
attack on a convoy run by the US-based World Central Kitchen (WCK)
charity in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.</p><p>The Israeli
drone bombed the convoy as it left a WCK warehouse. The victims included
Palestinian Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha; Britons John Chapman, James
Kirby, and James Henderson; dual US-Canadian citizen Jacob Flickinger;
Australian Lalzawmi Frankcom; and Polish citizen Damiam Sobol.</p><span></span><p>On 29 February, Israeli forces <a href="https://thecradle.co/articles-id/23804">killed</a> over 100 Palestinians seeking to receive aid from a humanitarian convoy.</p><p>Testimonies
gathered from Palestinians who survived the “flour massacre” describe
Israeli forces opening fire indiscriminately on the crowd, causing those
gathered to flee and trucks to drive away. Doctors at Gaza hospitals
report that most of the injured had gunshot wounds, suggesting most of
the dead were killed by Israeli gunfire.</p><p><i>+972 Magazine</i> <a href="https://www.972mag.com/gaza-aid-convoy-massacre-testimonies/">quoted</a>
the testimony of Abdel Jalil al-Fayoumi, 22, whose cousin was shot in
the head and killed by Israeli fire at the convoy. Fayoumi explained
that the aid trucks arrived just before sunrise and were swarmed by the
crowd. “I couldn’t see the truck; I just saw its lights and people
rushing toward it,” Fayoumi continued. </p><p>“Suddenly, intense gunfire
erupted from the Israeli tanks. I got separated from my uncle and
cousin. I didn’t know what was happening; I just wanted to survive and
escape. Everyone was screaming and fleeing. There were bodies on the
ground and wounded people crying for help.”</p></span></div></div></div></div>
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