The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) temporarily suspended movements across Gaza on Wednesday after it said one of its clearly marked vehicles was struck by at least 10 bullets while approaching an Israeli military checkpoint.
The UN said the humanitarian vehicle was struck by Israeli military gunfire on Tuesday evening as it took part in a convoy in Gaza that was coordinated with the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).
WFP said in a statement that the convoy of two armoured vehicles had received “multiple clearances by Israeli authorities to approach” the checkpoint at the Wadi Gaza bridge.
“A clearly marked UN humanitarian vehicle, part of a convoy that had been fully coordinated with the IDF was struck 10 times by IDF gunfire, including with bullets targeting front windows,” UN Secretary-General spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, adding that the two occupants were unharmed.
“This is the latest incident to underscore that systems in place for coordination are not working, and we continue to work with the IDF to ensure that incidents like that do not happen again,” Dujarric told reporters.
“We have no way to assess the mindset of those who are shooting at us,” he added, noting that it was not clear if information about the convoy’s movement had been passed down to Israeli authorities.
It is not the first incident of UN vehicles being hit since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, triggered by the October 7 attack.
In May, a UN staff member from India was killed when their vehicle was struck by what the UN said was tank fire in southern Gaza.
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World reacts to air strikes killing Hamas leader in Iran and Hezbollah commander in Beirut
World reacts to air strikes killing Hamas leader in Iran and Hezbollah commander in Beirut
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said on Wednesday it had “failed” in its response to a settler attack in the occupied West Bank earlier this month that Palestinian officials said killed one man.
The August 15 raid on the northern West Bank village of Jit came amid soaring violence in the Palestinian territory during the Gaza war and growing international concern over an uptick in attacks by Jewish settlers.
Major General Avi Bluth, head of the military’s Central Command which operates in the West Bank, was quoted in a statement as saying the attack was “a very serious terror incident in which Israelis set out to deliberately harm the residents of the town of Jit, and we failed by not succeeding to arrive earlier to protect them”.
Jit residents have said about 100 settlers armed with knives and firearms set fire to cars and homes in the village.
The military, releasing on Wednesday a summary of its investigation, said the group wore masks, threw stones and Molotov cocktails and set three vehicles and two buildings on fire.
The Palestinian health ministry said a 23-year-old Palestinian man, Rashid Sada, was shot dead in the attack.
Last week, Israeli police and the Shin Bet internal security service said they had arrested four suspects for “terrorist” acts in connection with the incident.
The military’s investigation found that the first troops at the scene “did not manage to fully gauge the situation” and “needed to act more decisively”, the statement said.
“Several members of the rapid response team from a nearby community, who were not in active reserve duty, arrived at the scene without authorisation, dressed in uniform, and acted contrary to the authority defined for the members of the rapid response team,” it added without elaborating.
Two members of the team “were dismissed, and their weapons were confiscated”, it said.
The statement said the shooting that killed Sada and wounded another Palestinian took place before more Israeli forces managed to disperse the assailants.
“The troops acted assertively, risking their lives, containing the rioters, and pushing them out of the town using crowd dispersal means and firing into the air,” the statement said.
“Half an hour after the incident began, all Israelis were removed from the town.”
Bluth was quoted as saying the case “will not be closed until we bring the perpetrators to justice”.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog “firmly” condemned the attack on Jit at the time.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
