AMMAN, Jordan, ISTANBUL

Jordan said Wednesday that illegal Israeli settlers attacked a humanitarian aid convoy en route to the blockaded Gaza Strip, marking the second such assault in a week.

Government spokesperson Mohammad al-Momani said illegal settlers assaulted a convoy of 30 aid trucks, damaging several and temporarily halting their movement, the state news agency Petra reported.

The attack involved settlers blocking the road and pelting trucks with stones. He said the assault caused material damage to at least four vehicles and shattered their front windshields as the convoy was moving toward Gaza via the Zikim crossing in northwestern Gaza after crossing from Jordan.

Momani criticized “Israel’s leniency in dealing with settlers who threaten the safety of aid workers and drivers,” urging Israeli authorities to “take serious measures and stop tolerating actions that violate international law and existing agreements.”

He noted that a similar settler attack took place on Sunday, prompting two aid trucks to return to Jordan.

The Jordanian spokesman also highlighted ongoing obstacles facing the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization, the official aid body coordinating Gaza relief. These include lengthy inspections, new customs fees, limited crossing hours, and an electronic permit system that delays shipments.

“These restrictions extend the journey of an aid convoy from two hours to as long as 36,” he said, stressing that recent joint airdrops with Arab and Western countries cannot replace land-based aid deliveries.

There was no immediate Israeli comment on the report.

On Wednesday, Gaza’s Government Media Office said only 853 aid trucks entered the strip over the past 10 days - far short of the roughly 6,000 trucks needed to meet the minimum humanitarian needs of the territory’s 2.4 million population.

The UN World Food Program (WFP) earlier warned that one-third of Gaza’s population had gone without food for several consecutive days due to the Israeli siege.

WFP estimates that one in four Palestinians in Gaza faces famine-like conditions, and 100,000 women and children are suffering from acute malnutrition.

Israel has been facing mounting outrage over its destructive war on Gaza, where more than 61,000 people have been killed since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave and brought it to the verge of famine.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.