The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) announced Wednesday it would temporarily halt the movement of its personnel across the besieged Gaza Strip following a security incident that targeted one of its vehicles.
WFP said that the move comes after one of its teams came under fire on the evening of August 27, a few meters away from an Israeli occupation checkpoint at the Wadi Gaza bridge.
According to a statement issued by the UN organization, “the team was returning from a mission to Kerem Shalom (Karam Abu Salem) with two WFP armored vehicles after escorting a convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian cargo routed to Gaza’s central area.”
WFP revealed in its statement that the vehicle was “directly struck by gunfire” although it was clearly marked and received several clearances from the Israeli occupation army to move forward.
The vehicle was hit as it was moving towards the Israeli occupation checkpoint sustaining a minimum of ten bullets, “five on the driver’s side, two on the passenger side and three on other parts of the vehicle,” the statement said.
The international organization confirmed nonetheless that none of its employees onboard the vehicles were physically hurt.
🚨News alert🚨
WFP temporarily suspend staff movement across #Gaza following a security incident that targeted WFP vehicle.Read on 👇🏽https://t.co/wSg4idAUkm pic.twitter.com/GBAUwRMM9T
— WFP Media (@WFP_Media) August 28, 2024
Targeting Humanitarian Operations
The WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain condemned the incident.
“This is totally unacceptable and the latest in a series of unnecessary security incidents that have endangered the lives of WFP’s team in Gaza,” McCain said.
“As last night’s events show, the current deconfliction system is failing and this cannot go on any longer. I call on the Israeli authorities and all parties to the conflict to act immediately to ensure the safety and security of all aid workers in Gaza,” she added.
WFP revealed that although this is not the first security incident of this kind, however, it is the first to target a WFP vehicle near an Israeli checkpoint despite following the standard protocol of securing the required clearances.
According to the UN organization, the incident comes as a “stark reminder of the rapidly and ever-shrinking humanitarian space in the Gaza Strip, where increasing violence compromises our ability to deliver life-saving assistance.”
WFP stated that aid workers are increasingly being targeted and face a multitude of challenges in their mission to deliver lifesaving assistance in the Strip amongst those repeated evacuation orders, which not only affect Palestinian civilians by uprooting them but also hinder food relief operations from reaching them.
“Last week, WFP lost access to its third and last operational warehouse in Gaza’s middle area, while five of WFP’s operated community kitchens had to be evacuated. This week, on Sunday 25 August, the evacuation orders impacted the main WFP operating hub in Deir Al-Balah, forcing our team to relocate for the third time since the war started,” the statement read.
Food operations in Gaza are being severely hampered by conflict, limited border crossings and damaged roads.@WFP stresses the urgent need to facilitate aid access, including by repairing roads that are nearly impassable. https://t.co/oUtY7DsBGE pic.twitter.com/XvUFtAzB8T
— United Nations (@UN) August 27, 2024
The UN organization called on “all parties to respect international humanitarian law, ensure the protection of humanitarian workers, and uphold their commitment to facilitating the delivery of vital and life-saving aid.”
Within this framework, the UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters earlier during a press briefing that the incident “underscores that the systems in place for coordination are not working.”
Dujarric also criticized the “direct rhetoric” from Israeli officials against the United Nations, the United Nation Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, stressing that “words have consequences.”
Ongoing Genocide
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 40,534 Palestinians have been killed, and 93,778 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
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Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.
(PC, Anadolu)
