Israeli forces say they attacked an armed group disguised as aid workers and used vehicles marked with the logo of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a US-based nonprofit.
Last week’s strike killed “five armed terrorists,” according to a statement Tuesday from the Israeli Defence Force (IDF).
A video released by IDF shows at least eight men wearing yellow vests and standing around the vehicle with the WCK logo on top. Some of the men in the video appear to be armed with “ironically exploiting the status and trust given to support the organization.”
The video does not show the troops attacking the vehicle.
Coordinator of government activities on Israeli territory (Cogat) said he had contacted WCK, confirming that the vehicle was not involved in the business.
“We strongly condemn the central kitchens and other humanitarians in order to help these dangerous civilians and workers. The safety and security of our team is our number one priority,” WCK said in a statement to CNN.
The vehicle was seen in the Deial Bala region of central Gaza, hundreds of metres away from Israel’s military status, the IDF said.
At a briefing Tuesday, the IDF said it was not clear which group or organization the group belongs to. The IDF also said it is unclear how many people died in the strike.
The news is as crazy scenes continue to emerge from Gaza, where violence and starvation grow deep amid strict control over territorial aid.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, at least 227 people (including 103 children) have died of malnutrition since the start of the war.
On Tuesday, foreign ministers of dozens of countries jointly called for Israel to grant more assistance to Gaza and allow humanitarian organisations to operate there.
“Hungerness is unfolding right in front of our eyes,” the 24 foreign ministers said in a joint letter, requiring that Israel enters Gaza and allows “essential humanitarian actors” to operate on the ground, allowing “all international NGO aid.”
“All intersections and routes must be used to enable flooding of aid to Gaza, including food, nutrition, shelters, fuel, clean water, medicine, medical equipment,” the minister said in the letter.
The 24 countries and the European Union have signed letters that include Australia, Canada, Spain and the UK.
CNN contacted Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment.
Last week, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned that acute malnutrition has skyrocketed in Gaza, with more than 300,000 children taking serious risks. Starvation and malnutrition on besieged territory has been at “the highest level ever” since the war began, with half a million people saying they are “on the brink of hunger.”
Israel repeatedly claimed that there was no starvation in Gaza, saying on Tuesday there was no indication of “a widespread malnutrition phenomenon.” Five countries aired 97 aid packages to Gaza on Tuesday, according to Cogat.
Israel and the United States continue to support the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) as their main means of distributing food, despite saying hundreds of Palestinians were killed in an attempt to get food from the site.
On Tuesday, a small group of Israeli human rights activists in Tel Aviv protested the controversial US-Israel aid initiative, apparently the first known demonstration against Israeli groups.
“Dareal forces must not be used in distribution sites. Civilians, humanitarians and healthcare workers must be protected,” the Foreign Minister wrote in a letter.
Meanwhile, a new push for a ceasefire in the 22-month war appears to be ongoing as Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo when it was invited from Egypt and Hamas delegation was invited from Egypt to discuss the state of negotiations, according to a Hamas statement on Tuesday.
Cairo’s delegation will come after Spanish delegation Steve Witkov met with Spanish Qatari officials over the weekend to secure the release of the remaining 50 hostages, end the war, and discuss the possibility of a comprehensive deal that addresses the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
An Israeli source familiar with past talks declined to comment on the meeting. The final round of negotiations ended on July 24th. The US withdrawn its negotiation team from Doha and accused Hamas of “not acting in good faith,” Witkov said at the time.
The US surprise withdrawal that Israel immediately followed shattered hopes of an imminent ceasefire, even after negotiating parties expressed considerable optimism about the talks.
