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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsUS aid group admits Gaza convoy was taken over by unvetted people before IDF struck them
A US-based aid group admitted Friday that a group of individuals who the Israeli military says were armed took control of an aid convoy in the southern Gaza Strip the day before, without the organization having vetted them or coordinated the matter with the Israel Defense Forces.
The military said Thursday that it struck the gunmen, killing them while not harming aid workers. According to the IDF, Hamas operatives frequently try to hijack aid deliveries. The IDF had said on Thursday that a convoy of aid trucks from the American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera) organization entered the southern Rafah area with Israeli coordination. It said that during the drive, it identified a group of gunmen taking over a vehicle at the front of the convoy and beginning to lead it. The IDF described the act as a hijacking attempt. Shortly afterward, the IDF said it was able to determine that it could strike just the car with the gunmen, without harming the rest of the convoy, and so it carried out a strike, killing at least four.
In a vaguely worded statement on Friday, Anera said that after the convoy departed the Kerem Shalom crossing, four community members with experience in previous missions and engagement in community security with their transport company, Move One, stepped forward and took command of the leading vehicle, citing concern that the route was unsafe and at risk of being looted.
Anera did not explain who the four were, or why persons who had not been coordinated with the military were allowed to take control of the convoy. It acknowledged that the four community members were neither vetted nor coordinated in advance.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-aid-group-admits-gaza-convoy-taken-over-by-unvetted-people-before-idf-fired-at-them/The military said Thursday that it struck the gunmen, killing them while not harming aid workers. According to the IDF, Hamas operatives frequently try to hijack aid deliveries. The IDF had said on Thursday that a convoy of aid trucks from the American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera) organization entered the southern Rafah area with Israeli coordination. It said that during the drive, it identified a group of gunmen taking over a vehicle at the front of the convoy and beginning to lead it. The IDF described the act as a hijacking attempt. Shortly afterward, the IDF said it was able to determine that it could strike just the car with the gunmen, without harming the rest of the convoy, and so it carried out a strike, killing at least four.
In a vaguely worded statement on Friday, Anera said that after the convoy departed the Kerem Shalom crossing, four community members with experience in previous missions and engagement in community security with their transport company, Move One, stepped forward and took command of the leading vehicle, citing concern that the route was unsafe and at risk of being looted.
Anera did not explain who the four were, or why persons who had not been coordinated with the military were allowed to take control of the convoy. It acknowledged that the four community members were neither vetted nor coordinated in advance.
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US aid group admits Gaza convoy was taken over by unvetted people before IDF struck them (Original Post)
Beastly Boy
Aug 2024
OP
EarnestPutz
(2,843 posts)1. Is there nothing in this blighted part of the world that is not of surreal stupidity? Holy land, my ass.
Cha
(321,585 posts)2. Yes, I wonder just who the "armed men
were who took over the aid truck"?
madaboutharry
(42,038 posts)3. Yet the knee jerk reaction was condemnation.
Before any facts about the incident were gathered many were quick to condemn the evil Zionists!
So many who claim to care about the truth could not care less about it if the word Israel is somewhere in the sentence.
stopdiggin
(15,838 posts)4. Thanks. I highly suspected this was something of the sort.
And the aid groups need to stop mealy-mouthing around about when this happens.
If your aid conveys need armed guards (understandable and defensible) - then that is part of the mission, and clearly needs to be vetted. But the idea that we're just going to 'add on' armed individuals as we go ... Who in their right mind .. ?
Behind the Aegis
(56,327 posts)5. This is my shocked face:
that. is. all.