AN Israeli missile hit a convoy carrying medical supplies and fuel to an Emirati hospital in the Gaza Strip, killing several people from a local transport company, the American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera) group has said.
Israel claimed without immediate evidence that it opened fire after gunmen seized the convoy.
The strike killed several people employed by a transportation company that the aid group was using to bring supplies to the Emirates Red Crescent Hospital in Rafah, Sandra Rasheed, Anera’s director for the Palestinian territory, said on Friday.
The strike happened Thursday on Salah al-Din Street in the Gaza Strip and hit the convoy’s first vehicle.
“The convoy, which was coordinated by Anera and approved by Israeli authorities, included an Anera employee who was fortunately unharmed,” Rasheed said in a statement cited by The Associated Press news agency.
“Despite this devastating incident, our understanding is that the remaining vehicles in the convoy were able to continue and successfully deliver the aid to the hospital. We are urgently seeking further details about what happened.”
In a later statement, Anera said four Palestinians were killed in the strike.
It identified the dead as “four community members with experience in previous missions and engagement in community security”.
They “stepped forward and requested to take command of the leading vehicle, citing concern that the route was unsafe and at risk of being looted”, the Anera statement said.
“The four community members were neither vetted nor coordinated in advance, and Israeli authorities allege that the lead car was carrying numerous weapons. The Israeli air strike was carried out without any prior warning or communication.”
