Hamas Blamed for Deaths of Five Aid Workers in Gaza

Israel Says Group 'Weaponizing Suffering' After Bus Carrying Supplies Is Attacked

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GAZA CITY - Israel charged on June 12 that Hamas was "weaponizing suffering in Gaza" after a US and Israeli-backed charity accused the Palestinian militant group of killing five of its aid workers in the territory.

The distribution of food and basic supplies in the blockaded and war-ravaged Gaza Strip has become increasingly fraught and perilous, exacerbating the territory's deep hunger crisis.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) said a bus carrying its staff to a distribution site near the southern city of Khan Yunis was "brutally attacked by Hamas" around 10 p.m. local time on June 11, killing at least five Palestinian aid workers.

"Hamas is weaponizing suffering in Gaza - denying food, targeting lifesavers and forsaking its own people," Israel's foreign ministry said on X.

The GHF said: "There are at least five fatalities, multiple injuries and fear that some of our team members may have been taken hostage."

Dozens of Palestinians have been killed while trying to reach GHF distribution points since they began operating in late May, according to Gaza's civil defense agency.

The agency said another 16 people were killed while waiting for aid on June 12, adding that they were among 22 people across the territory who were killed by Israeli fire.

The Israeli army said it was looking into the latest deaths.