IDF denies WHO chief’s claim tanks fired toward Gaza aid convoy over weekend
None were hurt in incident; military says combat engineers carried out a controlled explosion in the area, which was likely mistakenly perceived as fire toward convoy
GENEVA — The Israeli military on Wednesday denied a claim by the World Health Organization chief that Israeli tanks had fired over the weekend toward an aid convoy that had been cleared to travel back from war-ravaged northern Gaza.
“Last Saturday, on the way back from a mission to northern Gaza and after a WHO-led convoy got clearance and crossed the coast road checkpoint, the convoy encountered two Israeli tanks,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday.
“Shots were fired from the tanks near the convoy. Luckily nobody was hurt,” he said. “This is unacceptable.”
After examining the allegation, the Israel Defense Forces said no gunfire had been directed at the WHO aid convoy.
Rather, according to the military, combat engineers had carried out a large controlled explosion in the area, which was likely mistakenly perceived as fire toward the convoy.
The incident came a week after the United Nations said that a convoy carrying workers for a polio vaccination campaign in Gaza had been held at gunpoint at an Israeli military checkpoint.
The IDF said it detained that convoy after receiving intelligence indicating that “Palestinian suspects” had snuck aboard the convoy. It disputed claims that the convoy was carrying polio vaccines.
During that encounter, in the context of a massive vaccination campaign after the first case of polio in 25 years was registered in the Palestinian territory, shots were fired and convoy vehicles were rammed by a bulldozer, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said last week.
The “incident and the conduct of Israeli forces on the ground put the lives of our staff in danger,” he lamented. “It is critical that Israeli forces take measures to protect humanitarian staff and assets to facilitate their work.”
In his post, Tedros hailed the teams in Saturday’s convoy who “despite the security risk” had managed to reach Al-Shifa, Gaza’s largest hospital, to deliver supplies for the emergency room.
“Supplies were also delivered to support the Palestine Red Crescent Society facilities in the north, including for the treatment of noncommunicable diseases,” he said.
“The teams also facilitated the rotation of emergency medical teams.”
The United Nations health agency chief hailed the “unwavering humanitarian workers in Gaza,” who “amid extreme danger and life-threatening conditions… continue to deliver critical aid.”
They are “serving as the last hope for the survival for two million people in desperate need,” he said in his post. “The minimum they deserve for their service is safety. The deconfliction mechanism needs to be adhered to. Ceasefire!”
The war in Gaza erupted on October 7 when Palestinian terror group Hamas led a massive cross-border attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Israel responded with a military offensive to destroy Hamas in Gaza and save 251 people who were abducted during the Hamas attack and taken as hostages to Gaza.
According to the IDF, Hamas operatives frequently try to hijack aid deliveries.
At the end of August, a US-based aid group admitted that a group of individuals — who the Israeli military said were armed — took control of an aid convoy in the southern Gaza Strip, without the organization having vetted them or coordinated the matter with the IDF.
The military said that it struck the gunmen, killing them while not harming aid workers.
Days earlier, shots were fired toward a United Nations World Food Programme humanitarian aid convoy inside Gaza. Israel said the shooting was a result of a communication error between army units, leading the US to call on Israel to “immediately rectify” its conduct.
Israel has previously come under intense criticism for harm to humanitarian convoys in Gaza. In April, the IDF struck a clearly marked World Central Kitchen aid convoy near Deir al-Balah, in the Strip’s center, killing seven aid workers. The army said the strike was a grave error, and two senior IDF officers were fired over the incident.
On Monday the UN reported that polio vaccination coverage in Gaza has reached 90 percent and that it was ready to administer a second round at the end of the month.
The campaign to vaccinate approximately 640,000 children in Gaza under 10 years of age against polio, which began on September 1, was a major undertaking for UNRWA and its partners amid the ongoing fighting between Israel and Hamas.
On Friday, COGAT, the Defense Ministry body that coordinates Israeli policy in Gaza and the West Bank, said that 559,000 children were vaccinated across Gaza in the campaign, with the final push made in the northern Strip, where access is most limited.
