A group of charity workers was killed in Israeli airstrikes in northern Gaza, according to the UK-registered Al Khair Foundation in statements to the media on 15 March.
The charity reported that eight people, including its volunteers and independent journalists documenting their work, were killed when their vehicles were targeted on Saturday. Hamas condemned the attack, calling it a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire agreement with Israel.
The Israeli military stated that it targeted “two terrorists” who were spotted operating a drone that threatened its troops. It also said it later struck “additional terrorists” who arrived at the location.
The charity denies the claim that any of its team members were terrorists.
Qasim Rashid Ahmad, the charity’s founder and chairman, told the BBC that the team was in the area to install tents and film for the charity’s promotional purposes. He said the attack occurred when the cameramen returned to their vehicle, and as other team members rushed to help, they were hit by an Israeli drone that had tracked them to the charity’s second vehicle.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated that it targeted individuals operating a drone that threatened Israeli troops in Beit Lahia. The IDF further claimed that later, several other “terrorists” gathered the drone equipment and got into a vehicle, which was then struck.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate reported that video editor Bilal Abu Matar and cameramen Mahmoud Al-Sarraj, Bilal Aqila, and Mahmoud Asleem were among those killed in the strike. The organization accused Israel of deliberately targeting Palestinian journalists, stating that they risk their lives to reveal the truth and expose Israeli actions to the world. Several others were also injured in the strike, and rushed to the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip.
Mahmoud Basal, head of Gaza’s civil defense, told NPR that the victims were aid workers from the London-based Al-Khair Foundation, along with several journalists collaborating with the group.
According to Basal, they were in the area to set up tents for displaced people and had been using a drone to capture footage and map coordinates of the site.
A local worker with the Al-Khair Foundation, confirmed to NPR that the team was delivering aid for a Ramadan Iftar celebration.
The strike occurred in an area designated by the Israeli military as a “free movement area,” far from Gaza’s restricted “buffer zone,” where movement is tightly controlled.
In a statement on its Telegram channel, Hamas described the strikes as an “escalation” and an intentional effort to derail the implementation of the ceasefire agreement.
The attack took place amid stalled negotiations over extending the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which initially began on 19 January. The first phase of the agreement ended earlier this month, and while Hamas has been pushing for the next phase to begin, Israel has rejected it and is advocating for a new plan that does not include a long-term resolution to the conflict, something Hamas insists on.
This incident marks the deadliest single attack during the nearly two-month ceasefire, though it is not the first time Palestinians have been killed by Israeli strikes during this period. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, over 150 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the ceasefire began and more than 48,000 have been killed since October 2023.
Israel’s blockade of aid to Gaza, including electricity, has now entered its third week. The blockade was imposed as a tactic to pressure Hamas into accepting Israel’s proposed deal. International aid organizations warn that the blockade is worsening the humanitarian crisis for Gaza’s two million residents, who were already facing severe hardships after more than 15 months of war. They have condemned the blockade as collective punishment and a violation of international law.
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