Warships fire on convoy of lorries carrying Gaza-bound aid

A road convoy carrying food into northern Gaza was fired on by Israeli warships yesterday, the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees said.

No one was injured in the attack, said Thomas White, director of affairs for the UNRWA’s Gaza Office, which published images of damaged lorries.

Israeli officials made no comment about the incident. More than 150 UNRWA staff have been killed in Israel’s offensive in the past four months.

The agency’s funding has dwindled as western nations pulled out after Israel claimed that 12 of its employees were involved in the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.

The agency, the largest UN organisation in the region with 13,000 staff in Gaza alone, said it will soon be forced to stop operations if the decision is not reversed and funding restored.

The US and Germany alone provided about $500 million of funding to the agency in 2022.

Israel has pushed for the UNRWA to be disbanded.

Some countries opposed the move, with Norway saying there is “no plan B” if the agency collapses.

Spain said yesterday it would send €3.5 million ($3.75 million) in emergency funding.

Yesterday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said an independent review group led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna will assess “whether UNRWA is doing everything within its power to ensure neutrality and respond to allegations”.

It will be completed by late April and made public.

“This review is in response to a request made by UNRWA commissioner general [Philippe] Lazzarini earlier this year,” the UN said.

After nearly four months of war, about 100,000 people have been “killed, injured or are currently missing”, Mr Lazzarini, said yesterday. “This represents nearly five per cent of the population. You can easily figure out what this would mean in your city or country,” he wrote on social media platform X.

He said 17,000 children are unaccompanied or separated from their families.

Mr Lazzarini said there would be “no winner” as the war goes on. “Only suffering, misery and grievance,” he said, calling for a ceasefire.