IDF: Army didn't fire on UN truck driver

The IDF was not responsible for the death of a Palestinian aid worker contracted to the UN and the wounding of two others last Thursday, the IDF Spokesperson said Saturday.

Trucks unload aid for Gaza at the Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip, Thursday.
Photo: AP

"An IDF investigation has found that it was not the army who fired on a UN truck at the Erez Crossing," the Spokesperson's office said. The IDF is not sure who fired on the truck, and is still investigating. "The army further wishes to point out that the Palestinian wounded were evacuated by the Red Cross to the Israeli border, where they were taken by Israeli medical personnel for treatment at Ashkelon's Barzilai Hospital," the IDF told The Jerusalem Post.

On Thursday, the Post reported that contrary to foreign press reports, it was not certain that an IDF tank shell hit the aid truck, and that in all probability, the aid workers were hit by Hamas gunfire.

The foreign press reports were based on UN sources, who later admitted to the Post that they were not sure in which direction the truck was headed when it was hit, and could also not say with certainty that tank shells were responsible. Foreign press reports said the dead Palestinian and two others were hit by tank shells.