UPDATE - Israeli soldiers fire at aid convoy on route designated by army: UN agency for Palestinian refugees

ADDS UN RELIEF CHIEF'S CONDEMNATION

By Ikram Kouachi

ANKARA (AA) - Israeli soldiers opened fire on Friday at an aid convoy as it was returning from Northern Gaza along a route designated by the Israeli army, said the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

“Israeli soldiers fired at an aid convoy as it returned from Northern Gaza along a route designated by the Israeli Army,” Thomas White, director of the agency in the Gaza Strip, said in a statement.

“Our international convoy leader and his team were not injured but one vehicle sustained damage,” he added.

White stressed that “aid workers should never be a target.”

In separate, the UN relief chief strongly condemned the incident.

"The convoy was clearly marked and its movements were coordinated with the parties. Attacks on humanitarian workers are unlawful. The conflict must stop," Martin Griffiths, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said on X.

During its months of attacks on Gaza, Israel has hit hospitals, residences, and places of worship, which under the rules of war should be off-limits.

There are also reports that after ordering civilians in northern Gaza to go south early in the war, the Israeli army fired on them en route.

Since Hamas’ cross-border attack on Oct. 7, Israel has continued relentless attacks on the Gaza Strip, killing at least 21,320 Palestinians and injuring 55,603, according to local health authorities.

Authorities claim the Hamas attacks have killed around 1,200 Israelis.

The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure damaged or destroyed and nearly 2 million residents displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicines.