Armed group posing as aid workers targeted in Israeli strike as international calls mount for more Gaza aid
The strike, which took place last week, killed 'five armed terrorists,' according to a Tuesday statement from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
A video released by the IDF shows at least eight men wearing yellow vests and standing around a vehicle with a WCK logo on top. Several of the men in the video appear to be armed, 'cynically exploiting the status and trust afforded to aid organizations,' the IDF said.
The video does not show the military striking the vehicle.
Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said it contacted WCK, which confirmed the vehicle had no connection to their operations.
'We strongly condemn anyone posing as World Central Kitchen or other humanitarians, as this endangers civilians and aid workers. The safety and security of our teams are our top priority,' WCK said in a statement to CNN.
The vehicle was seen in the Deir al-Balah area in central Gaza, the IDF said, several hundred meters from an Israeli military position.
In a briefing on Tuesday, the IDF said it's not clear to what group or organization the group belonged. The IDF also said it's unclear how many were killed in the strike.
The news comes as chaotic scenes continue to emerge from Gaza, with violence and starvation deepening amid Israel's tight control on aid to the territory.
At least 227 people – including 103 children – have died from malnutrition since the beginning of the war, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
On Tuesday, foreign ministers from dozens of countries jointly called on Israel to allow more aid into Gaza and permit humanitarian organizations to operate there.
'Famine is unfolding before our eyes,' 24 foreign ministers said in the joint letter, demanding that Israel allow for 'all international NGO aid shipments' to enter Gaza and to authorize 'essential humanitarian actors' to operate on the ground.
'All crossings and routes must be used to allow a flood of aid into Gaza, including food, nutrition supplies, shelter, fuel, clean water, medicine and medical equipment,' the ministers said in the letter.
The 24 countries and the European Union signed the letter, including Australia, Canada, Spain, and the United Kingdom, which have announced their intention to recognize a State of Palestine next month.
CNN has reached out to Israel's Foreign Ministry for comment.
Last week, the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) warned that acute malnutrition is spiking in Gaza, with more than 300,000 children at severe risk. Starvation and malnutrition in the besieged territory are at the 'highest levels ever' since the war began, WFP said, with half a million people 'on the brink of famine.'
Israel has repeatedly claimed that starvation is not occurring in Gaza, saying on Tuesday that there are 'no signs of a 'widespread malnutrition phenomenon.' On Tuesday, five countries airdropped 97 aid packages into Gaza, according to COGAT.
Israel and the US have continued to back the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) as the main means of distributing food, even as the UN says hundreds of Palestinians have been killed attempting to get food from the sites.
On Tuesday, a small group of Israeli human rights activists in Tel Aviv protested against the controversial US and Israeli-backed aid initiative, in what appears to be the first such known demonstration against the group in Israel so far.
'Lethal force must not be used at distribution sites, and civilians, humanitarians and medical workers must be protected,' the foreign ministers wrote in their letter.
Meanwhile Tuesday, a renewed push for a ceasefire in the 22-month war appears to be underway, as a Hamas delegation headed to Cairo to discuss the status of the negotiations, according to three Hamas sources.
The invitation for the discussions came from Egyptian intelligence officials, according to one of the sources.
The delegation in Cairo comes after US envoy Steve Witkoff met with Qatari officials in Spain over the weekend to discuss the possibility of a comprehensive deal that would secure the release of the remaining 50 hostages, end the war and address the humanitarian situation in Gaza, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
An Israeli source familiar with past rounds of talks declined to comment on the meeting. The last round of negotiations ended on July 24, when the US withdrew its negotiating team from Doha and accused Hamas of not 'acting in good faith,' Witkoff said at the time.
The surprise withdrawal of the US, which was quickly followed by Israel, dashed hopes of an imminent ceasefire, even after the negotiating parties expressed considerable optimism around the talks.
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