It is a shocking incident, says Sandra Rasheed, Palestine chief for the aid organization American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera), to The Guardian.
According to Rasheed, personnel from a local transport company hired by Anera were killed in the attack. Israel claims, without presenting evidence, that they opened fire after armed men seized the convoy.
The convoy's route was allegedly coordinated with the Israeli army. It is said to have been on its way to the Emirati hospital in Rafah in southern Gaza when the first vehicle in the convoy was hit.
In early April, seven aid workers from the aid organization World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed in an Israeli airstrike, which was strongly condemned internationally.
Earlier in the week, a vehicle belonging to the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) was shot at by Israeli military at a checkpoint in Gaza. The vehicle was part of a convoy coordinated with the Israeli military.
US Deputy UN Ambassador Robert Wood says during a meeting with the UN Security Council on Thursday that Israel must stop attacking and making threatening statements towards the UN and other aid organizations.
