World Food Program suspends staff movement after vehicle shot at in Gaza

The World Food Program said on Wednesday that it is pausing the movement of its employees in the Gaza Strip after one of its teams came under fire near an Israeli checkpoint.

The United Nations organization said the incident occurred a few meters from an Israeli checkpoint at the Wadi Gaza bridge. Its team was returning from a mission to the Kerem Shalom border crossing with two WFP armored vehicles after they escorted a convoy of trucks carrying aid destined for central Gaza.

“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 Defense Forces (IDF) checkpoint,” said the WFP in a statement. “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 added that this is the first time during the war that one of its vehicles has been directly shot at near a checkpoint

No WFP employees were injured in the exchange. The organization is “pausing the movement of its employees in Gaza until further notice,” per the release.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the matter.

Why it matters: Delivering aid to Gaza is exceedingly difficult amid the war between Israel and Hamas in the enclave. The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement on Wednesday that humanitarian operations in Gaza are continuing but that their work is “still heavily restricted by hostilities, insecurity and mass evacuation orders affecting aid transport routes and facilities.”

Israel has ordered civilians in Gaza to evacuate various areas of the enclave throughout the war, with many having been displaced several times. 

A senior UN official told reporters on Monday that the organization had to suspend aid operations in Gaza after an Israeli evacuation order in the center of the territory. On Tuesday evening, spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that work in Gaza is “extremely difficult,” but that “we are doing what we can with what we have.”

Israel has been implicated in strikes against aid workers during the Gaza war. In April an Israeli airstrike killed seven World Central Kitchen staff members in the Palestinian territory. The Israeli military fired two reserve officers and sanctioned two commanders over the incident following an investigation, after which the Israeli military said that judgment errors and failures led to the deadly incident.

Know more: The Israeli news outlet Haaretz reported on Wednesday that Israel will refrain from military activities in certain parts of Gaza in order to facilitate a vaccination campaign against polio. The decision followed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's pressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the issue during his recent visit to Israel, according to the outlet. The news was first reported by Israel's Channel 13. 

The Palestinian Health Ministry reported on Aug. 16 that a 10-month-old unvaccinated baby had become infected with polio. The World Health Organization reported three suspected polio cases in Gaza the same day, prompting fears of an outbreak.

On Sunday, Israel said it delivered 25,100 polio vaccine vials via the Kerem Shalom crossing. More than 640,000 children under the age of 10 will receive oral polio vaccine, the UN Children’s Fund said in a statement.

The UN and the WHO have been calling for a pause in fighting for at least seven days in order to administer the vaccines, according to the Associated Press.