The Food Program suspends the movement of its workers in Gaza after Israeli fire targets their vehicle

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Published by Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The United Nations World Food Program suspended the movement of its staff around the Gaza Strip on Wednesday after it said one of its vehicles displaying its logo was hit by a at least 10 bullets while approaching an Israeli military checkpoint. .

The program said in a statement that the convoy, which included two armored vehicles, “received several approvals from the Israeli authorities to approach” the checkpoint at the Wadi Gaza Bridge on Tuesday evening. The bullets were aimed at one of the two cars, but no one inside was injured.

The program said, “Although this is not the first security incident that has occurred during the war, this is the first time that a World Food Program vehicle has been exposed to fire right near a checkpoint that ‘ despite obtaining the necessary permits. “

The WFP said the vehicle was “a few meters” from an Israeli checkpoint when it caught fire.

The Israeli army said in a statement on Wednesday that the incident was under investigation. He said, “The State of Israel is committed to improving coordination and security with humanitarian agencies to ensure the effective delivery of aid within the Gaza Strip.”

There have been previous incidents where relief organizations and humanitarian organizations have come under fire during the war. In April, three Israeli airstrikes targeted a relief convoy moving through Gaza, killing seven World Central Kitchen workers.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Wednesday that relief operations in Gaza were “severely hampered by hostilities, insecurity and mass evacuation orders affecting aid transport routes and resources.”

The United Nations Security Council will hold a meeting on Thursday, at the request of Britain and Switzerland, regarding the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. The British mission to the United Nations said in a post on X, “The United Nations is warning that relief operations and workers inside Gaza are at risk, at a time when a vaccination campaign is urgently needed to stop the spread of polio.”

The United Nations is preparing to vaccinate some 640,000 children in Gaza, as the World Health Organization said a 10-month-old baby was paralyzed by the type 2 polio virus, the first case of its kind in the Strip in 25 years.

The latest war in Gaza began when the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) launched an attack on Israel on October 7, which they say killed 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages.

The subsequent Israeli assault on the Strip killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to the region’s health ministry. Almost the entire population of 2.3 million people had to flee. It also caused a hunger crisis, which led to accusations going up in the International Court of Justice against Israel for committing genocide, which they deny.

The United Nations is complaining about obstacles preventing aid from entering Gaza and its distribution during the war, amid a “complete absence of law” in the t -Restriction.