GHF says aid centers opened this morning as planned after 8 staffers killed by Hamas overnight

Eight of its staffers were killed overnight by Hamas, says the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Earlier estimates by the group said five were killed.

GHF still suspects that some may have been taken hostage.

Despite the attacks, GHF delivered the most meals it has in a single day today, according to its own figures.

It opened three sites, two in southern Gaza’s Tel Sultan and one at Wadi Gaza in the central Strip. The organization distributed over 45,000 boxes of food aid today, with more than half of those distributed at its original aid site in Rafah, near the shore along the Gaza-Egypt border.

The US- and Israeli-backed foundation says each box contains meals for 5.5 people for 3.5 days.

“We carefully considered closing our sites today given the heightened security risks and safety concerns, but we decided that the best response to Hamas’ cowardly murderers was to keep delivering food for the people of Gaza who are counting on us,” says GHF interim executive director John Acree. “We will not be deterred from our mission towards providing food security for the Palestinian people in Gaza.”