IDF says it struck gunmen who hijacked aid convoy in southern Gaza

The IDF says it carried out a strike against a group of gunmen who hijacked an aid convoy in the southern Gaza Strip earlier today.

According to the military, a convoy of aid trucks from the American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera) organization entered the southern Rafah area with IDF coordination.

During the drive, “armed men took over a vehicle at the front of the convoy (a jeep) and began to lead it,” the military says.

Shortly after the hijacking, the IDF says it was able to determine that it could strike only the car with the gunmen, without harming the rest of the convoy. It then carried out the strike.

“There was no damage to the other vehicles in the convoy and it reached its destination according to the plan. The attack on the armed men removed the threat of them taking over the humanitarian convoy,” the IDF says.

The military says representatives from the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) unit spoke with members of Anera, who “confirmed that all the members of the organization who were part of the convoy, and the humanitarian aid, were safe and sound and reached their destination safely.”

“The presence of armed men in a humanitarian convoy without coordination is against the procedures and makes it difficult to secure the convoys and their workers and thus also harms the humanitarian effort in Gaza,” the IDF adds.