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Israeli forces shot at a United Nations convoy of armored automobiles in central Gaza on Thursday night because it was coming back from delivering assist within the northern a part of the territory, U.N. officers stated.
Nobody within the convoy was injured, the officers stated, however the episode highlighted the extreme challenges going through humanitarian efforts to assist Palestinians struggling to outlive amid Israel’s practically 12-week bombardment of the enclave.
“Israeli troopers fired at an assist convoy because it returned from northern Gaza alongside a route designated by the Israeli Military,” Thomas White, the Gaza director for UNRWA, the U.N. aid company for Palestinian refugees, wrote on social media. He stated that one automobile within the convoy had been broken, including: “Support staff ought to by no means be a goal.”
The Israeli army didn’t instantly remark when requested concerning the episode.
The convoy, whose automobiles had been marked with U.N. insignia, was coming back from delivering assist, together with flour. It was south of Gaza Metropolis when it got here underneath fireplace, Juliette Touma, spokeswoman for UNRWA, stated in an interview. Earlier than getting down to ship the help, the convoy had coordinated its plans with the Israeli army and notified it of the routes it will take, she added.
Ms. Touma stated that the Israeli army had instructed the convoy to take a special route, which it did. “They rerouted after which the taking pictures occurred,” she stated.
Support staff and deliveries have come underneath fireplace earlier than throughout Israel’s practically 12-week army offensive in Gaza.
UNRWA says that 142 of its staff have been killed, among the many greater than 20,000 Palestinians that the Gazan Well being Ministry says have been killed within the Israeli air and floor offensive. Israel started placing Gaza on Oct. 7 after Hamas, the armed group which controls Gaza, carried out an assault in southern Israel that killed some 1,200 folks, in keeping with Israeli officers.
Most UNRWA employees members have been pressured to flee their houses, and the extreme restrictions on assist and gas coming into the territory, in addition to highway closures ordered by the Israeli army and in depth harm from its bombardment, have vastly restricted the company’s capacity to work. The state of affairs has remained dire regardless of the passage final week of a U.N. Safety Council decision that may enable extra assist to succeed in Gazan civilians and that demanded “secure and unhindered humanitarian entry.” The decision stopped in need of calling for a cease-fire.
“It’s very tough to ship help and humanitarian aid throughout a conflict zone when there’s lively battle,” Ms. Touma stated.
On Nov. 18, a Docs With out Borders convoy trying to evacuate folks sheltering in a hospital got here underneath fireplace in Gaza Metropolis, killing two folks, the group stated. It blamed Israel for what it stated was a deliberate assault in opposition to automobiles emblazoned with the group’s emblem.
Two days later, the group’s services in Gaza Metropolis got here underneath assault when pictures had been fired whereas its staff had been sheltering inside, the group stated. Docs With out Borders requested the Israeli authorities for a proper clarification and known as for an impartial investigation. The Israeli army didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
On Nov. 7, a medical convoy of the Worldwide Committee of the Purple Cross got here underneath fireplace in Gaza Metropolis, frivolously wounding a driver and damaging two vans, the help group stated. It didn’t say who was responsible for the assault.
UNRWA says that as much as 1.9 million folks — greater than 85 p.c of Gaza’s inhabitants — have been displaced from their houses, and that almost 1.4 million are sheltering in services operated by the company.
Because it struggles to ship assist, company officers say that determined Gazans going through acute starvation are stopping U.N. assist vans, taking meals off them and devouring it on the spot.
“The little or no provides that proceed to be allowed into Gaza have led to very excessive ranges of desperation among the many communities,” Ms. Touma stated. “So it’s no shock that individuals are coming to help vans and taking meals and in lots of instances they’re consuming it then and there.”
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