Eight Palestinian aid workers were killed and several injured when a bus they were traveling in was attacked by Hamas militants in central Gaza, a foundation backed by the US and Israel said Thursday.
The vehicle was en route to an aid-distribution center west of the city of Khan Younis when it came under fire at 10 p.m. local time, according to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. It expressed concern that Hamas had taken some of the more than two dozen passengers hostage. Hamas has yet to respond to the accusations.
“We condemn this heinous and deliberate attack in the strongest possible terms,” the foundation said in a statement. “For days, Hamas has openly threatened our team, our aid workers, and the civilians who receive aid from us.”
GHF’s interim executive director, John Acree, said the group will continue food deliveries despite the attack.
The GHF, a Switzerland-based nonprofit, began operating in Gaza in late May following a 13-week-long Israeli blockade of the territory. It has been dispensing aid from centers in central and southern Gaza that have been inundated with people. Israeli forces said they had in recent weeks fired at Palestinians headed toward one center, citing a security threat.
The organization said it distributed over 2.6 million meals on Thursday through three sites in central and southern Gaza Strip, but Palestinians have complained that the random distribution process lacks beneficiary data that would ensure the food is handed out fairly. The UN and other traditional relief groups operating in Gaza have refused to work the GHF.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry said that 57 people were killed in areas adjacent to the distribution sites on Wednesday, bringing the total who had died in such incidents to 224.
Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and sparking a war in Gaza that has dragged on for almost 20 months. More than 55,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, while large parts of the territory have been reduced to rubble.
Many of the more than the 2 million Palestinians living in Gaza were dependent on aid before the fighting erupted and their plight has grown increasingly desperate. Israel has sidelined United Nations agencies from distribution, accusing them of being too close to Hamas, which the US has designated a terrorist group.
The GHF has handed out more than 10 million meals in Gaza over recent weeks, the military said in a post on social media platform X.
The foundation said it would carry on issuing aid despite the latest attack on its workers.
