Gaza Genocide09 July, 20263 min read
Israeli Missile Strike Kills Gaza Aid Worker Mohamed Al-Wahidi Before Egypt-Argentina Screening
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Mohamed Al-Wahidi, PR director for the Egyptian Relief Committee in Gaza, was killed. The strike occurred just before the Egypt-Argentina World Cup screening.
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World Cup screening strike
An Israeli missile strike killed Palestinian aid worker Mohamed Al-Wahidi in Gaza City shortly before soccer fans gathered to watch the Egypt-Argentina game on Tuesday evening, according to hospital director Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiya.
CBS News reported that Al-Wahidi was the public relations director of the Egyptian Relief Committee in Gaza, which was established by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to provide humanitarian aid in the war-torn Palestinian territory.
Abu Selmiya told The Associated Press that the strike hit a car around dusk on Tuesday and killed three others, including vehicle driver Ahmed Daghmush, 33, and two children, 10-year-old Hamza al-Deri and 8-year-old Fari.
CBS News said the planned screening of the game went ahead on Tuesday, with many Palestinians gathering to support Egypt, even as the attack transformed the moment of celebration into a reminder of ongoing strikes.
In a statement provided to CBS News Thursday, the Egyptian Relief Committee in Gaza said it mourned Al-Wahidi’s death with "profound sorrow and grief."
IDF response and competing death tolls
CBS News quoted an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson saying, "The IDF struck a terrorist in Hamas' military wing" while traveling in a vehicle in the northern Gaza Strip, and added that the incident was "under review." The Independent also described the Israeli strike as killing Mohamed al-Wahidi along with two children and a driver shortly before the Egypt-Argentina World Cup match on Tuesday, and said the Israeli military stated al-Wahidi was "not the intended target." Democracy Now! reported that the Israeli strike in the Sabra neighborhood Tuesday evening killed Mohammed al-Wahidi, a taxi driver, and two children, and said Israel killed him "less than an hour before kickoff."
Democracy Now! put the post-ceasefire death toll at "at least 1,027 people in Gaza, including 258 children" since October, when Israel agreed to a so-called ceasefire. Al Jazeera reported that Israeli attacks and gunfire across Gaza killed at least six people despite a United States-brokered ceasefire, and said two people were killed and several others injured when an Israeli drone struck central Gaza’s Nuseirat camp on Thursday.
Humanitarian operations under pressure
UN News said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that relief teams continue to provide support across the Gaza Strip despite daily shelling, gunfire, explosions, and air strikes. UN News reported that an airstrike targeted the roof of a United Nations-run school building in the al-Nuseirat area, used to shelter displaced families, and said "No injuries were reported as a result of the incident." In a separate account, The Guardian described the killing of Palestinian driver Ahmad Esleem, saying witnesses and the local truckers’ association accused an Israeli soldier of a "field execution" of a Palestinian driver bringing food aid from the World Central Kitchen (WCK) into Gaza.
The Guardian quoted trucker Diaa Mansour describing that after a truck broke down, drivers waited for authorization and then soldiers ordered them to dismount and strip, before "Suddenly, they shot him." The Guardian also reported that the IDF confirmed the shooting incident but said troops identified three aid truck drivers who exited their trucks "contrary to established procedures," detained them for questioning, and opened fire after perceiving an immediate threat.