Oslo / PNN /
Norway today strongly denounced a recent Israeli army attack on a convoy of clearly marked World Food Programme trucks in the war-torn Gaza Strip.
“I am shocked that a clearly marked UN vehicle was directly hit by gunfire while approaching an Israeli check point,” Norway Minister of International Development Anne Tvinnereim said in a statement.
Tvinnereim described the attack, where a clearly marked UN vehicle was directly struck by gunfire while moving towards an Israeli checkpoint and which prompted the UN to announce it was suspending its activities in Gaza, as “utterly unacceptable”.
"Despite being clearly marked and receiving multiple clearances by Israeli authorities to approach, the vehicle was directly struck by gunfire as it was moving towards an Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) checkpoint. It sustained at least ten bullets: five on the driver’s side, two on the passenger side and three on other parts of the vehicle," the WFP said in a statement.
“I am shocked that a clearly marked UN vehicle was directly hit by gunfire while approaching an Israeli checkpoint,” Tvinnereim said.
“Gaza is the most dangerous place in the world for humanitarian workers. It is utterly unacceptable that humanitarians, yet again, are targeted while providing life-saving assistance to civilians. International humanitarian law must be respected, always and everywhere. This incident should immediately be investigated,” she added.
Israel has proceeded with its genocidal offensive on the war-torn Strip in complete disregard of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered Israel in a legally binding decision to halt its military offensive in Rafah, which may violate its obligations under the Genocide Convention.
Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7, killing at least 40,602 Palestinians and injuring over 93,855 others.
Moreover, at least 10,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
