- author, Maru Cursino
- role, bbc news
Israeli protesters blocked a Gaza-bound aid truck in the occupied West Bank on Monday, dumping food packages on the road and tearing up bags of grain.
The truck that was attacked at the Tarkmiyah checkpoint west of Hebron had come from Jordan and was headed to the Gaza Strip, where tens of thousands of Palestinians face food and aid shortages.
The White House condemned the attack, calling the “looting” of aid workers “utterly outrageous.”
Groups believed to be behind the protests reportedly said they were demonstrating against the continued detention of Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip.
Unidentified footage shared on social media shown Protesters were knocking boxes from trucks onto the ground and trampling on the fallen boxes.
Video also showed a vehicle being set on fire later in the evening. The BBC has not been able to independently verify these.
Israeli media reports said the activist group Tsav9 was responsible for organizing the protests.
Israeli media reports describe the group as a right-wing group seeking to block the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, where Israeli hostages are being held.
One demonstrator told AFP news agency that he was at the checkpoint on Monday because he heard that the aid truck was “heading into the hands of Hamas, who are going to kill other soldiers and other Israeli citizens.”
Hana Guiat, 33, said “no food should be brought into Gaza” until the Israeli hostages are returned “healthy and alive”.
In a statement quoted by the Jerusalem Post, Tsav9 rejected some of the demonstrators’ actions, saying “acts were committed today that are inconsistent with the values of our movement.”
However, he added, “Blocking the trucks is an effective and practical measure to say, “Relief will not come until the last hostage returns.”
Four protesters, including a minor, were arrested at the demonstration, according to a statement from their lawyer.
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the protesters’ actions were “completely and completely unacceptable” and that the White House had expressed concerns to “the highest levels of the Israeli government.” Stated.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza, the destination of aid trucks, is of grave concern to many in the international community.
The United Nations’ World Food Program has warned that Palestinians in northern Gaza are suffering from “full-scale famine”. The humanitarian situation is deteriorating in the south, where most Palestinians have fled.
Israel has long maintained a position that it facilitates the delivery of humanitarian aid to and from the Gaza Strip and has accused Hamas of stealing aid earmarked for civilians.
Monday’s incident occurred on Israel’s Remembrance Day, when the country paused to pay its respects to those who lost their lives in the war.
According to the Israeli Defense Ministry, 826 names of members of the security forces have been added to this year’s list of Israel’s war dead, along with 834 victims of terrorist attacks.
Almost all of them were due to the October 7 Hamas attack and the subsequent war in Gaza.
According to Israeli authorities, in response to last year’s attack by Hamas on southern Israel, Israel launched a military operation to annihilate Hamas in the Gaza Strip, resulting in approximately 1,200 deaths and 252 hostages. .
More than 35,090 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-controlled region’s health ministry.
Israel’s offensive is focused on the Gaza Strip, but tensions between Israeli settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank have increased since the war began.
Some 700,000 Israelis live in 160 settlements, along with 2.7 million Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, according to settlement monitoring group Peace Now.
Almost all of the international community views the settlements as illegal, but Israel disputes this.
