At least 12 people were killed and dozens injured in an Israeli attack on Palestinian security guards guarding a shipment of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera Arabia’s local correspondent and news agency reported. .
At least 30 people were injured after an Israeli military attack on Thursday targeted civilian security personnel tasked with convoying aid vehicles in the war-torn southern part of the enclave, medics and local residents told Reuters. He said several of them were in critical condition.
A video clip shared by local Palestinian media in Gaza showed bodies piled up in a morgue, believed to be security personnel from the targeted aid convoy west of Khan Yunis.
The attack is just the latest attack by the Israeli military against humanitarian aid workers, convoys and others trying to safely bring food and other supplies into war-torn Gaza. Gaza is plagued by food shortages and fears of starvation in the northern part of the territory. , where Israeli ground operations and siege have been ongoing for several weeks.
On Sunday night, an Israeli attack on Rafah, also in the southern Gaza Strip, killed at least 10 Palestinians who were lining up to buy flour.
The Israeli military has not yet commented on the recently reported attack on security personnel guarding aid supplies.
Al Jazeera Arabic also reported that six people, including a child, were killed in an Israeli attack on a residential building in western Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, early Thursday morning, raising the death toll to 13 following the Israeli attack. Reported. A house bombing in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
At least 44,805 Palestinians have now been killed and 106,257 injured in Israel’s relentless war in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, the Gaza Ministry of Health said in a statement on Wednesday. announced.
The latest attack on security personnel trying to protect aid entering the Gaza Strip prompted UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, to initially suspend aid shipments through the main crossing into the Strip. The move comes after the company announced it had made the “difficult decision” to do so. of December.
UNRWA Director Philippe Lazzarini said at the time that humanitarian operations were being disrupted due to “continued siege, obstruction from Israeli authorities, political decisions to limit aid amounts, lack of security on aid routes and targeting of local police.” “It has become unnecessarily impossible.” People securing relief vehicles.
He called on Israel to ensure the flow of aid to Gaza and said the country “must refrain from attacks on humanitarian workers.”
Lazzarini said on Wednesday that a joint UN aid convoy will provide emergency food to 200,000 people in the southern and central areas of the Strip after reopening the Karem Abu Salem (also known as Kerem Shalom) border crossing. He said he could. between Gaza and Israel.
Lazzarini said it was possible to safely deliver aid to Gaza if there was “political will”.
“We need to scale up our support to the people of Gaza and ensure that all parties have access to safe, unhindered (and) uninterrupted humanitarian access to ensure aid reaches those who need it most.” We need to continue to promote this,” he said in a social media post. media.
United Nations Development Program Deputy Executive Director Haorian Xu told reporters in New York on Wednesday after returning from the Gaza Strip that the situation in Gaza was unlike anything he had seen before.
“I have been through many conflicts, disaster situations, or even disasters themselves, but I can say that in my career I have never seen anything like the devastation that I saw in Gaza,” he said. Ta.
“What I do know is that for at least the last month, no fresh fruits and vegetables have been imported into Gaza,” he added.
