Gunmen disguised as Gaza aid workers ‘eliminated’ in drone strike, Israel says

The Israeli military says it struck and killed a group of Gaza militants disguised as aid workers, using a car displaying the logo of an international charity.

“Five armed terrorists” were using a car with World Central Kitchen branding, the IDF said, adding that it carried out the airstrike after confirming with the US-based charity that the men had “no affiliation” with it and that the car did not belong to the group.

“We strongly condemn anyone posing as World Central Kitchen or other humanitarians, as this endangers civilians and aid workers,” the charity said in a statement.

The Israeli military shared video footage showing several men in yellow vests – “in an attempt to conceal their activity and avoid being targeted” – standing around a vehicle near Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza. The charity’s logo was on the roof.

The IDF said it had “eliminated” the men in the weekend drone strike as they “posed a threat to our troops”. It could not confirm whether the men were connected to Hamas, the London Telegraph reported.

“This cynical abuse of humanitarian symbols is a tactic used by Hamas & other terror groups to shield themselves and advance their attacks at the expense of Gazan civilians,” the IDF posted on X.

World Central Kitchen, founded in 2010, dispatches teams that can quickly provide meals on a mass scale in conflict zones and after natural disasters.

In April last year, an Israeli strike killed seven World Central Kitchen workers – including Australian Zomi Frankcom – in Gaza. Israel admitted it had mistakenly killed the aid workers and launched an investigation.

In November, an Israeli strike killed five people, including a World Central Kitchen worker who Israel said was part of the Hamas attack that sparked the war. The charity said at the time that it was unaware the employee had any connection to the attack.

In March, 15 Palestinian medics were killed by Israeli troops in southern Gaza, their bodies and the mangled ambulances later found buried in a mass grave, apparently ploughed over by Israeli military bulldozers. Those killed were eight Red Crescent workers, six members of Gaza’s Civil Defence emergency unit and a staff member from UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinians. The International Red Cross/Red Crescent said it was the deadliest attack on its personnel in eight years.

An Israeli investigation into the killings found a chain of “professional failures” and a deputy commander who was the first to open fire was sacked. The shootings triggered outrage, with some calling it a war crime. Medical workers have special protection under international humanitarian law.

Israeli officials have said Hamas militants use civilians and hospitals as cover. They have also accused Hamas of siphoning off aid to support its rule in the territory. The UN denies that the looting of aid is systematic.

There has also been a global outcry over Israel’s killing of a prominent Al Jazeera correspondent, Anas al-Sharif, and five other journalists in a strike on Sunday.

Israel’s military said Sharif had led a Hamas cell – an allegation that Al Jazeera and Sharif previously dismissed as baseless. The Committee to Protect Journalists and others described the killing as retribution against those documenting the war in Gaza.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hinted that ceasefire efforts in Gaza were now focused on a comprehensive deal that would release the remaining hostages all at once, rather than in phases.

Arab officials told the Associated Press last week that mediators Egypt and Qatar were preparing a new framework for a deal that would include the release of all remaining hostages in one go in return for a lasting ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

The long-running indirect talks appeared to break down last month. But a Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo for ceasefire talks on Tuesday, Egypt’s state-run Qahera news channel reported, a sign that efforts have not been abandoned after 22 months of war.

Israel has threatened to widen its military offensive against Hamas to the areas of Gaza that it does not yet control, and where most of the territory’s 2 million residents have sought refuge.

Those plans have sparked international condemnation and criticism within Israel, and could be intended to raise pressure on Hamas to reach a ceasefire. The militants still hold 50 hostages taken in the October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war. Israel believes about 20 of them are alive.

In an interview with Israel’s i24 News network broadcast, Netanyahu was asked if the window had closed on a partial ceasefire deal.

“I think it’s behind us,” Netanyahu said. “We tried, we made all kinds of attempts, we went through a lot, but it turned out that they were just misleading us.”

“I want all of them,” he said of the hostages. “The release of all the hostages, both alive and dead — that’s the stage we’re at.”

Netanyahu said Israel’s demands, however, had not changed and that the war would end only when all hostages were returned and Hamas has surrendered. He has said that even then, Israel will maintain open-ended security control over the territory.

Hamas has long called for a comprehensive deal but says it will only release the remaining hostages in return for the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The militant group has refused to lay down its arms, as Israel has demanded.

The United Nations on Tuesday warned that starvation and malnutrition in Gaza were at the highest levels since the war began.

The Gaza war started when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing 1200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza since then has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials.

AP, Reuters