Palestinian Truckers Fear for Safety After Aid Convoy for Gaza Wrecked

Egyptian Red Crescent members and volunteers gather next to a truck carrying humanitarian aid as it drives through the Rafah crossing from the Egyptian side, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, Egypt October 22, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer
Egyptian Red Crescent members and volunteers gather next to a truck carrying humanitarian aid as it drives through the Rafah crossing from the Egyptian side, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, Egypt October 22, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer
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Palestinian Truckers Fear for Safety After Aid Convoy for Gaza Wrecked

Egyptian Red Crescent members and volunteers gather next to a truck carrying humanitarian aid as it drives through the Rafah crossing from the Egyptian side, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, Egypt October 22, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer
Egyptian Red Crescent members and volunteers gather next to a truck carrying humanitarian aid as it drives through the Rafah crossing from the Egyptian side, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, Egypt October 22, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer

Palestinian hauliers said on Tuesday they feared for the security of aid convoys to Gaza, a day after Israeli protesters wrecked trucks carrying humanitarian supplies bound for the enclave, which is facing a severe hunger crisis.

Footage circulated on social media showed at least one burning truck while other images showed trucks wrecked and stripped of their loads, which lay strewn over the road near Tarqumiya checkpoint outside Hebron in the occupied West Bank.

"Yesterday there was coordination for 70 trucks of aid to go the Gaza Strip," said Waseem Al-Jabari, Head of the Hebron Food Trade Association.

"While the trucks were uploaded with products at the crossing settlers attacked the trucks and they destroyed the products and set fire in trucks," he said, saying Israeli soldiers had stood by as the attack took place.

Monday's incident was claimed by a group calling itself Order 9, which said it had acted to stop supplies reaching Hamas and accusing the Israeli government of giving "gifts" to the group.

No comment was available from the Israeli military. The Israeli police said the incident, in which a number of people were arrested, was being investigated, Reuters reported.

The violent protest drew condemnation from Washington, which has urged Israel to step up deliveries of aid into Gaza to alleviate a growing humanitarian crisis in the enclave, seven months since the start of the war.

Palestinians and human rights groups have long accused the Israeli military and police of deliberately failing to intervene when settlers attack Palestinians in the West Bank.

Adel Amer, a member of the West Bank-based hauliers' union, said around 15 trucks had been damaged by Israeli protestors who beat some drivers and caused about $2 million worth of damage.

"The drivers are now refusing to take goods to Gaza because they're afraid," he said. "It's a disaster here because of the settlers."

Even when the military was present, the convoys were still at risk, he said. "The army says we cannot do anything to the settlers."



African Peace and Security Council Proposes Sudan Roadmap

 Plumes of smoke rise during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan, September 26, 2024. (Reuters)
Plumes of smoke rise during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan, September 26, 2024. (Reuters)
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African Peace and Security Council Proposes Sudan Roadmap

 Plumes of smoke rise during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan, September 26, 2024. (Reuters)
Plumes of smoke rise during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan, September 26, 2024. (Reuters)

The African Union’s Peace and Security Council has proposed a roadmap to resolve the war in Sudan.

A delegation from the council is visiting the interim Sudanese capital, Port Sudan, for the first time since the eruption of the war in the country in April 2023.

The delegation informed Sudanese officials that the African Union is seeking a ceasefire in line with a roadmap proposed by its Peace and Security Council. The details of the roadmap were not disclosed.

Sudanese officials, for their part, briefed the delegation on the conflict.

Meanwhile, US Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello told Asharq Al-Awsat that contacts are ongoing with the African Union over a mechanism to monitor the implementation of current and future agreements.

It is best to remain prepared, he added. The international community must assess the options to support the implementation of the cessation of hostilities.

Moreover, he noted that elements that support the ousted regime of President Omar al-Bashir are within the army and opposed to the democratic civilian rule in the country.

He accused them of seeking to prolong the war and returning to rule against the will of the people.

The envoy also said the conflict cannot be resolved through a military solution.

Over the months, the army has wasted opportunities to end the war through negotiations that could restore peace and civilian rule, he noted.

The latest escalation between the army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) will cost countless lives among civilians, warned Perriello.