Israeli airstrike kills 23 aid distribution committee members in northern Gaza

Twenty-three people were killed and dozens more were injured by an Israeli airstrike on Tuesday which targeted a gathering of clans, families and groups tasked with securing aid trucks and overseeing the distribution of aid, Al Jazeera reported.

An Al Jazeera correspondent said the 23 were killed as they were waiting for an aid convoy at the Kuwait roundabout coming from southern Gaza.

Among the casualties was Amjad Hathat, the director of the emergency committee in western Gaza City, according to Al-Qahera News, an intelligence-affiliated outlet.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a journalist from Gaza City told Mada Masr that Hathat was a resident of the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood and a prominent member of the emergency committee established by the strip’s factions under Hamas’ supervision and tasked with various responsibilities, such as maintaining security and distributing aid during times of crisis.

Hathat is one of several northern Gaza officials responsible for securing and distributing aid to be targeted by the Occupation this week.

Hours after the Occupation’s raid on the Shifa Medical Complex began on Monday, Brigadier General Faiq al-Mabhouh, the director of police operations who played a role in aid distribution, was killed inside the facility.

On Tuesday, Major Raed al-Banna, northern Gaza’s Police Investigations director, was killed in an airstrike that targeted his home. Major Mahmoud al-Bayoumi, the director of the Nuseirat police station, was also killed on the same day in a car bombing. Like Mabhouh, Banna and Bayoumi were reportedly key figures in aid security and distribution.

The Hamas media office announced on Wednesday that the Occupation killed more than 100 people and injured dozens after “committing eight massacres” against humanitarian aid workers during the week, with the intention of enforcing a policy of starvation and exacerbating the famine.

Hamas added that the targeting of popular committees responsible for aid distribution at the Kuwait roundabout was an attempt to spread security disorder by striking local and clan structures distributing aid, all aimed at implementing the Occupation's plan to drive the Palestinian people from their land.

Head of Hamas’ political bureau Ismail Haniyeh also said that targeting police officers and government agencies is an attempt by the Occupation to spread chaos and sabotage ongoing ceasefire negotiations in Doha.

The direct targeting of Hamas police officers and civilians from the popular committees comes days after aid was delivered and distributed in areas of northern Gaza, specifically in the Jabalia, Beit Lahia, and Beit Hanoun camps. Reuters reported on Wednesday that it had obtained video footage showing individuals wielding assault rifles and sticks securing a convoy of foreign aid trucks entering northern Gaza.

The deliveries mark the first time in around four months that a significant amount of aid has reached the area, which is thought to be home to approximately 500,000 residents now facing famine after multiple organizations ceased aid deliveries to northern Gaza, citing security risks.

A series of mass casualty incidents have also been taking place at aid distribution points, with Israeli ground forces opening fire at thousands of aid seekers in northern Gaza.

A Reuters report cited a Palestinian source saying that Hamas being able to rally families and clans to secure aid confirms that the group still holds significant influence within the strip.

Israel’s attempt to arm the strip’s clans and families to secure and distribute aid was met with resistance, as the clans later announced their refusal, while Hamas was reported to have warned families against collaborating with the Occupation. 

The Israeli military also announced on Wednesday the deaths of three senior officers in the emergency committees of northern and eastern Rafah, in southern Gaza, and the injury of one as a result of a series of airstrikes conducted two days ago. 

According to the Occupation’s statement, the four individuals were responsible for working with Hamas and “the group’s operatives on the ground” to further the “concentration of Hamas’s activity in humanitarian areas.”

On March 13, Occupation forces also assassinated the deputy head of police operations, Mohamed Abu Hasna, and emergency committee official, Nidal al-Sheikh Eid, in an airstrike targeting an UNRWA aid distribution center in Rafah.