Aid Group Says Hamas Killed Workers

By Anat Peled , Suha Ma’ayeh and Abeer Ayyoub

A group overseeing a controversial, Israeli-backed Gaza aid program accused Hamas of attacking and killing some of its Palestinian workers who were on their way to distribution sites late Wednesday.

The militant group targeted a bus with more than two dozen workers in southern Gaza, leaving at least eight dead and 21 injured, said the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. One of the survivors told GHF that Hamas militants carried out the attack, said a person familiar with the incident.

Hamas declined to comment on GHF’s allegations. The U.S.designated terrorist group for days has warned Palestinians not to participate in the new aid distribution effort.

The Israeli military didn’t respond to a request for comment on the alleged Hamas at --tack. Its spokespeople referred to one of the military’s posts on X that cited the GHF statement on the attack.

The owner of a local Palestinian company that supplied the workers to GHF who were in the bus told The Wall Street Journal that at least eight people died in the attack, and that --the wounded were taken to Nasser Hospital in the central Gaza city of Khan Younis.

Sameh Hamed, the director of criminal evidence in Khan Younis governorate, said Nasser hospital received 11 bodies from western Khan Younis, an area where GHF said the incident took place. Hamed said that nine bodies had been identified so far. Some of the bodies had gunshot wounds to the chest, head, and the legs, he added, citing autopsy reports.

A spokesman for GHF said the death toll was preliminary, adding that the Palestinian workers have armed security at the aid sites, but not in transit.

The alleged attack comes after Hamas last week issued what it called a final warning that any person or company cooperating with the aid organization would face “decisive and uncompromising action.” Hamas repeated the threat Sunday.

The new aid program centralizes food distribution at four sites guarded by private U.S. security contractors in southern and central Gaza, with Israel’s military securing the surrounding area. Israel and GHF say it is designed to keep aid out of the hands of Hamas, which Israel and Arab intelligence officials have said uses the goods to raise funds and feed its troops. Hamas denies the allegation.

Aid groups and the U.N. have refused to participate in the plan, saying it violates their principle of neutrality.