UNICEF says one of its vehicles was hit by “live ammunition” while waiting to enter North Gaza from the South on Wednesday.
An Australian spokesperson for the aid organisation, former Australian Financial Review reporter Tess Ingram, told Al Jazeera she was “really lucky” not to have been hit by bullets fired from an Israeli checkpoint.
Ingram said bullets hit the car next to her passenger door, the window, and the bonnet of the car she was in.
“We were on a coordinated mission to try and deliver fuel to water wells in the north, and lifesaving nutrition and medical supplies to Kamal Adwan Hospital,” she said.
She said the vehicle had left Rafa after some delays, before arriving at a designated holding point where UN vehicles are made to wait until the checkpoint is ready to receive them.
“We were waiting there when gunfire broke out in the vicinity,” she told Al Jazeera.
“Gunfire came from the direction of the checkpoint towards civilians, who then ran away from the checkpoint, and the gunfire hit us.
“We had some colleagues outside of the car checking a mechanical problem with the nutrition trap when the fire broke out, and they had to run back to our armoured vehicle.
“Fortunately, they were safe.
“But three bullets hit the car that I was in right on my passenger door, the window and also the bonnet of the car.”
She said it was just another example of “how unsafe it is for humanitarian aid workers, and how missions like these are made impossible”.
“Safety is not guaranteed, even when we take all of the required steps, as we saw with the tragic World Central Kitchen incident,” she said.
UNICEF has raised the incident with the relevant Israeli authorities.
