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beijing, august 31 (xinhua) -- the american refugee aid service (ara) said on august 30 that a convoy carrying fuel and medical supplies for the organization in the gaza strip was hit by an israeli airstrike on august 29, killing four palestinians in a car. the israeli army called the dead "armed personnel" and did not explain why it launched the attack without warning.

sandra rashid, director of palestinian affairs at the american refugee agency for the near east, told reporters that the convoy was carrying supplies to the emirates red crescent hospital in rafah, southern gaza strip, when it was attacked on salahuddin street and the lead vehicle was hit. "we are eager to get further details of this incident."

on august 29, local people received relief food at the jabaliya refugee camp in the northern gaza strip. photo by mahmoud zaki, xinhua news agency

according to a statement released later by the aid agency, four palestinians were killed in the lead car.

the statement said that the convoy's transportation plan had been agreed to by the israeli authorities in advance, including the requirement for unarmed security personnel to accompany the convoy. on the 29th, after the convoy departed from the kerem shalom crossing, four palestinians with similar mission experience said that "the route was unsafe and could be robbed," and asked to be in charge of the lead vehicle. the four people were not fully checked and coordinated in advance. "the israeli side claimed that the lead vehicle was carrying a large number of weapons and launched an air strike without prior warning or communication."

the kerem shalom crossing is located in the southern part of the gaza strip, bordering israel, and is one of the main cargo crossings in the gaza strip. the rest of the convoy's vehicles eventually completed their mission and handed over supplies to the emirates red crescent hospital.

on august 28, people looked at the ruins of buildings bombed by the israeli army in the jabaliya refugee camp in the northern gaza strip. xinhua news agency (photo by mahmoud zaki)

israeli military spokesman avichai adelai posted on the social media platform x that the israeli military took action after confirming that a car had been hijacked. according to a statement from the israeli military, the airstrike targeted "armed personnel" and that weapons were found in the vehicle. the israeli military did not explain why there was no prior warning or communication.

the uae has not yet commented on the matter. the uae normalized relations with israel in 2020 and has continued to provide assistance to the gaza strip since the outbreak of a new round of palestinian-israeli conflict.

earlier, on the 27th of this month, the israeli army fired several shots at a world food program aid vehicle, later claiming that a "communication error" between different israeli military formations led to the accidental shooting. the incident did not cause any casualties, but the world food program suspended its work in the gaza strip the next day.

on april 1, the israeli army launched an airstrike on a convoy of the charity organization "world central kitchen", killing seven staff members of the organization and drawing international condemnation. the israeli army later admitted that it had made a "serious mistake", saying that it was a "mistaken bombing" because the israeli army did not see the "world central kitchen" logo in the dark and mistakenly thought that the vehicle was controlled by armed personnel of the palestinian islamic resistance movement (hamas). (chen lixi)