Tess Ingram, a UNICEF spokesperson, was in a convoy hit by Israeli gunfire as it tried to deliver aid to northern Gaza. She said the vehicles were at a “holding point” – a designated area where cars have to wait until a checkpoint is ready to receive them.
“We were waiting there when gunfire broke out in the vicinity. The gunfire came from the direction of the checkpoint towards civilians who then ran away from the checkpoint and the gunfire hit us,” Ingram told Al Jazeera. “We were really lucky,” she said, adding three rounds hit the car where she was sitting.
The shooting was raised with the relevant authorities, Ingram said, noting it was the most serious incident that UNICEF staff have experienced since the start of the war. “But it’s not an isolated case – safety is not guaranteed even when we take all of the required steps as we saw with the tragic World Central Kitchen incident. This is just another example.”
The mission had been authorized and the Israeli authorities knew about the convoy, said Ingram.
After the shooting, Israeli authorities continued to delay the convoy and it eventually was forced to return to Rafah. “So those life-saving supplies never made it to the children in northern Gaza,” she said.
1,200 aid trucks are waiting to enter Gaza but Israel keeps delaying them .
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