Multiple aid workers were killed after a bus was attacked in Gaza on Wednesday night, according to a US-backed humanitarian aid organization which accused Hamas of carrying out the assault.
Hamas has yet to respond to the allegations.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a controversial US and Israeli-backed aid initiative, said that a bus carrying more than two dozen of its team members was attacked by Hamas at around 10 p.m. local time.
“We are still gathering facts, but what we know is devastating: there are at least five fatalities, multiple injuries, and fear that some of our team members may have been taken hostage,” GHF said in a statement.
The group was en route to a distribution center in the area west of Khan Younis, GHF said, adding further details would be provided once they became known.
“We condemn this heinous and deliberate attack in the strongest possible terms,” the GHF said in a statement.
The GHF also accused Hamas of repeatedly threatening the organization in recent days.
On Sunday, Hamas media said its forces have “full authority and mandate to strike decisively against any entity or individual collaborating with the enemy’s plans or with any rogue, criminal, or traitorous elements that violate the law and the traditions of our people.”
“All agents, thieves, and armed criminal gangs are considered legitimate targets for the resistance and its security apparatus,” the militant group said.
The GHF was established amid Israeli accusations that Hamas is stealing aid in Gaza and profiting off its sale but the organization has been controversial from the get-go and criticized by multiple international aid agencies.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains desperate.
Restrictions imposed by the Israeli military on aid routes, ongoing airstrikes, a lack of security and the continuous displacement of tens of thousands of people are aggravating an already alarming situation, according to the United Nations and other aid agencies. The supplies that do get in risk getting looted and only a fraction of what is needed is getting in.
Multiple Palestinians have been killed by gunfire near aid distribution sites since GHF began operations.
This is a developing story and will be updated.