World

Israeli air strike kills four aid workers in Gaza ‘safe zone’ – UK-based group

The Israeli military said Husam Mansour, the Al-Khair Foundation member who was killed, was in fact a senior Hamas militant.

Scenes of devastation met returning residents of Gaza City (AP)
Scenes of devastation met returning residents of Gaza City (AP) (AP)

A UK-based aid group has said one of its senior employees in Gaza was killed in an Israeli strike that hit its warehouse in an Israel-declared humanitarian safe zone.

The strike also killed three staff from other aid groups using the warehouse, the Al-Khair Foundation said.

The Israeli military said Husam Mansour, the Al-Khair Foundation member who was killed, was in fact a senior Hamas militant.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have died (AP)
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have died (AP) (Tsafrir Abayov/AP)

Israel said he used his position with the humanitarian group to raise money for Hamas.

After a two-week Israeli offensive in northern Gaza, dozens of bodies were collected throughout Gaza City’s Tel al-Hawa area and brought to Al-Ahli Hospital on Friday.

Civil defence workers said they were still recovering dead and injured from destroyed streets and buildings.

Israel launched the war in Gaza after Hamas’ October 7 attack in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed some 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and abducted about 250.

Many in Gaza are facing hunger as well as wrecked cityscapes (AP)
Many in Gaza are facing hunger as well as wrecked cityscapes (AP) (Jehad Alshrafi/AP)

Since then, Israeli ground offensives and bombardments have killed more than 38,300 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry. It does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.

Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are crammed into squalid tent camps in central and southern Gaza.

Israeli restrictions, fighting and the breakdown of law and order have limited humanitarian aid efforts, causing widespread hunger and sparking fears of famine.

The top United Nations court has ordered Israel to take steps to protect Palestinians as it examines genocide allegations against Israeli leaders. Israel denies the charge.