Illegal Israeli settlers block aid trucks from West Bank to besieged Gaza

By Qais Abu Samra

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – Illegal Israeli settlers on Wednesday blocked 26 aid trucks on the way from the occupied West Bank to the besieged Gaza Strip, according to a Palestinian official.

"Some 26 trucks loaded with food supplies are blocked at the Tarqumiya checkpoint south of the West Bank city of Hebron," Adel Amre, an official in charge of the commercial transport sector, told Anadolu.

He said the aid trucks are attacked and vandalized by illegal Israeli settlers.

The Palestinian official estimated the losses from settler attacks on aid trucks en route from the West Bank to Gaza on Monday at around $1 million.

Israel launched a brutal offensive in the Gaza Strip following the Palestinian resistance group Hamas' cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people.

More than 35,100 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have since been killed, and over 79,000 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

More than seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Tel Aviv is committing genocide in Gaza, ordering it to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar