GAZA, (PIC)
Three Palestinian human rights organizations affirmed that the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) targeted the World Central Kitchen (WCK) team in three stages, indicating that it was a deliberate and intentional act contrary to what the army claimed.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights, Al Mezan Center, and Al Haq Foundation stated that Israeli drones launched three missiles towards a convoy of three Toyota Hilux vehicles, two of which were armored and bore the logo of the WCK organization. They were traveling along the coastal strip opposite the city of Deir al-Balah and heading south.
According to the statement, the IOF targeted the first vehicle with a missile, turning the car’s front into a ball of fire. The driver managed to escape and board another car from the convoy. About 500 meters south, the aircraft returned and targeted another vehicle, hitting its roof, resulting in the death of three people inside. Two managed to escape and board the third car. About one kilometer south, opposite the Tel site, the aircraft returned to target the third car with a missile, resulting in the death of four others.
The seven victims, including a woman, are from Australia, Poland, and the United Kingdom, some of whom hold dual nationalities from the United States, Canada, and Palestine. Among them is a Palestinian driver.
The attack, as announced by the international WCK organization, came despite coordinating movements with the IOF, while the targeted team was leaving a food warehouse in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, after unloading more than 100 tons of humanitarian aid brought to Gaza through the maritime pier.
The human rights organizations emphasized that the Israeli targeting of the convoy in three stages indicates the deliberate intention of the occupation forces to kill and target members of the humanitarian convoy.
They pointed out that this targeting is an extension of deliberate and systematic military attacks on convoys and distribution centers of humanitarian aid, as well as aid recipients or those working on its distribution or protection. This proves Israel’s intent to continue committing genocide against the Palestinian people by targeting humanitarian aid distribution systems and using hunger as a weapon, making Gaza a place of death. It is also an attempt to intimidate relief teams and deter them from presence and work in the Gaza Strip, as there is no safe place in Gaza, and no one is safe from the Israeli killing machine.
Following the bombing, the WCK immediately suspended its operations in the area, indicating that decisions regarding its future work will be made soon, depriving hundreds of thousands of the meager assistance that was reaching them at a time when the crisis of hunger and various humanitarian crises intensify in different areas of the Gaza Strip, as the Israeli military aggression enters its 180th day.
The organizations considered the continuation of such heinous attacks a result of Israel’s policy of impunity and the double standards applied by the international community towards the Israeli occupation by turning a blind eye to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the most dangerous crime, which is genocide, that the occupation army has been committing relentlessly for six months, defying successive decisions of the International Court of Justice and ignoring a humanitarian ceasefire decision during Ramadan adopted by the UN Security Council on March 25, 2024, remaining mere ink on paper.
