Humanitarian aid workers murdered, kidnapped by Hamas

At least five relief workers from US-based aid group killed and others abducted by Hamas terrorists during attack on bus in the Gaza Strip.

By World Israel News Staff

At least five people were killed and a number taken hostage in the Gaza Strip Wednesday night after Hamas terrorists attacked a bus carrying relief workers affiliated with an American-based humanitarian aid group.

The attack occurred at approximately 10 p.m. when terrorists attacked a convoy operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S.-based, Israeli-backed group which was launched earlier this year to provide an alternative mechanism for distributing aid in the Gaza Strip, circumventing Hamas.

A bus carrying some two dozen Gazan employees of the GHF was hit in the attack as the convoy was en route to a GHF aid distribution center west of Khan Yunis, leaving five dead and more wounded, the GHF announced Thursday morning.

The GHF also said that it appeared that some of its employees had been abducted.

“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,” the GHF said.

“We condemn this heinous and deliberate attack in the strongest possible terms,” the GHF continued.

The Israeli Defense Minister confirmed Thursday that a number of GHF aid workers had been kidnapped by Gazan terrorists, though it declined to provide details regarding the number of hostages taken.

“Hamas murdered five humanitarian workers from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation with others being kidnapped,” the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) tweeted.

“No UN statement. No calls for investigation. No outrage. The international community can not ignore Hamas’s crimes against humanitarian workers.”

“Do humanitarian lives only matter when they wear a UN badge?”

The GHF said that Hamas had recently threatened the aid group, as well as Gazans who receive its aid.

“This attack did not happen in a vacuum. For days, Hamas has openly threatened our team, our aid workers, and the civilians who receive aid from us. These threats were met with silence.”