Two U.S. aid workers wounded in Gaza, foundation says

UPI

a day ago

Palestinians carry aid supplies received from the newly formed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation through an area known as the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza Strip on May 29. Photo by Haitham Imad/EPA
July 5 (UPI) -- The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said two of its American aid workers were injured in an attack while distributing desperately needed food to Palestinians.
The foundation, which formed in May, posted on X that two militants threw grenades in Khan Younis. The workers were in stable condition, GHF said.
The incident "occurred at the conclusion of an otherwise successful distribution in which thousands of Gazans safely received food," GHF said. "No local aid workers or civilians were injured."
The foundation blamed Hamas, which has been fighting Israel on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023.
"GHF has repeatedly warned of credible threats from Hamas, including explicit plans to target American personnel, Palestinian aid workers and the civilians who rely on our sites for food. Today's attack tragically affirms those warnings," the foundation said.
GHF said the attack won't deter its efforts, which began on May 27 in Rafah.
"Despite this violence, GHF remains fully committed to its mission: feeding the people of Gaza safely, directly, and at scale," the foundation said. "Attempts to disrupt this life-saving work will only deepen the crisis. We will continue to stand with the people of Gaza and do everything in our power to deliver the aid they so urgently need."
In June, more than 100 human rights groups and international aid charities, including Oxfam, Save the Children and Amnesty International, called for the end of aid by the foundation because the locations are in combat zones.
"Today, Palestinians in Gaza face an impossible choice: starve or risk being shot while trying desperately to reach food to feed their families," the group said. "The humanitarian system is being deliberately and systematically dismantled by the Government of Israel's blockade and restrictions, a blockade now being used to justify shutting down nearly all other aid operations in favor of a deadly, military-controlled alternative that neither protects civilians nor meets basic needs.
Since the GHF was launched, Israeli forces have killed more than 400 Palestinians trying to collect food aid, the U.N. and local doctors say, according to a BBC report. But Israel said the new distribution system stops aid going to Hamas.
In May, GHF announced Israel will allow the resumption of aid, including 300 million meals for the initial 90 days.
Since the cease-fire between Israel and militant-run Hamas ended on March 1, Israel had frozen all supplies of food, water and medicine to the region of an estimated 2.5 million people. The United Nations said Gazans are at a "critical risk of famine" with 1 in 5, or 500,000, facing starvation as the war rages since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
The foundation's executive director, Jake Wood, is a decorated Marine Corps veteran, social entrepreneur and expert in crisis leadership. In 2010, he co-founded and is CEO of Team Rubicon, a nonprofit of 180,000 veteran volunteers in humanitarian roles, including disaster response.