Palestinian aid official killed in Israeli airstrike in Gaza City

By Anadolu staff

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – A Palestinian aid official was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, according to local sources on Wednesday.

Amjad Hathat, the director of the Emergency Committee in western Gaza, was killed when Israeli fighter jets struck a gathering of people facilitating the transportation of aid at the Kuwait Roundabout in Gaza City on Tuesday, the sources said.

At least 23 people were killed in the attack, medical sources said.

Hathat was killed while he was supervising the entry of humanitarian aid in the area, the sources said.

His death came one day after Israeli forces killed Brigadier General Fayeq al-Mabhouh, the head of police operations in Gaza, during a raid on Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

Al-Mabhouh was responsible for coordinating the entry of humanitarian aid with Palestinian tribes and the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) into the northern Gaza Strip, Gaza’s government media office said.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by Hamas in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed.

Nearly 32,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and over 74,000 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Palestinian enclave, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.​​​​​​​

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to ensure its forces do not commit acts of genocide, and guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar