Controversial aid distributer accuses Hamas of carrying out attack on bus transporting Palestinians
12 June 2025, 03:04
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) said some team members "may have been taken hostage" in the attack.
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The GHF is backed by US and Israel.
It said at least five aid workers were killed and it fears some team members "may have been taken hostage".
The aid organisation said multiple people were injured in the alleged attack.
In a statement, the GHF has said the bus was transporting more than two dozen people working with the organisation when it was targeted at 10pm local time (8pm UK time) on Wednesday.
Those in the bus were "local Palestinians" working with the organisation to "deliver critical aid", the GHF said.
The statement added: "At the time of the attack, our team was en route to one of our distribution centres in the area west of Khan Younis".
It continued: "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.
"We condemn this heinous and deliberate attack in the strongest possible terms. These were aid workers."
Read more: Two more hostages recovered by Israeli forces in Gaza, Netanyahu says
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The GHF also added that Hamas has recently been threatening members of the organisation.
The organisation said it holds Hamas accountable for "taking the lives of our dedicated workers who have been distributing humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people at the foundation's sites in central and southern Gaza".
"Tonight, the world must see this for what it is: an attack on humanity. We call on the international community to immediately condemn Hamas for this unprovoked attack and continued threat against our people simply trying to feed the Palestinian people," the GHF said.
"We will release additional information once it becomes available. Despite this heinous attack, we will continue our mission to provide critical aid to the people of Gaza."
The alleged attack comes just hours after Gaza health officials said at least 25 Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire at a GHF site nearby the former settlement of Netzarim - close to Gaza City.
Health workers at Shifa and al Quds hospitals reported that the victims were killed while nearing the location.
Gaza’s health ministry stated earlier this week that approximately 160 people have died in shootings close to aid distribution areas operated by the GHF since 26 May.
The GHF, however, maintains that no violent incidents have occurred directly at or within their aid distribution centres.
The GHF has been marred with controversy.
Israel and the US have claimed the GHF system is designed to stop Hamas from intercepting or diverting aid supplies.
Major aid organisations and UN agencies have rejected the new system, arguing that it breaches humanitarian standards by giving Israel control over who gets assistance and compelling people to move to designated distribution points - a move they warn could trigger further large-scale displacement in the region.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says the number of Palestinians killed since the war with Israel began has passed the 55-thousand mark.
It doesn't distinguish between civilians and fighters but says women and children make up half the dead.
The war began after Hamas-led militants killed around 12-hundred people - mostly civilians - in the attacks on southern Israel on October 7th 2023.
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