Article by Stephen Prager republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

A Gaza trucker’s association leader called it “a deliberate killing of a civilian driver who had complied with all instructions.”

A soldier with the Israel Defense Forces reportedly shot and killed a Palestinian driver delivering aid to Gaza on Wednesday in what witnesses described as a “field execution.”

Based on accounts from three witnesses, The Guardian reported that the driver, Ahmad Nasser Saleem, was shot in the head at close range shortly after his convoy entered Gaza to deliver food supplies from the World Central Kitchen.

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They said the four-truck convoy had stopped along the Philadelphi Corridor on the edge of Gaza after one of the vehicles broke down. Israeli soldiers then ordered the drivers to dismount before one of them shot Saleem in the head when his hands were raised.

“After the truck broke down, we waited for authorization to get out and inspect it, because every movement we make has to be coordinated in advance,” said one of the other drivers, Diaa Mansour.

He said that while they were awaiting authorization, an Israeli military vehicle arrived and soldiers ordered him, Saleem, and another driver, Alaa Shaat, to get out of their trucks.

“They made us stand by the side of the road. They ordered me to take off my clothes and forced me to sit under the sun,” Mansour said. “Then they brought Ahmad out of his truck. One of the soldiers began talking to Ahmad while he stood with his hands raised. Ahmad did not speak Hebrew, and it seemed the soldiers did not understand his Arabic.”

“Suddenly, they shot him. He was hit in the head and died at the scene,” Mansour said. “It appeared they were trying to find out why we had stopped, but they did not understand the situation and opened fire immediately, without any discussion or attempt to communicate.”

Jihad Saleem, the deputy head of the Association of Transport Companies in Gaza, identified as a distant relative of the aid worker who was killed, said that the transportation of aid was “100%” coordinated with Israel through the UN World Food Program and WCK.

“The moment Ahmad raised his hands in surrender, one of the soldiers drew his M16 rifle and shot him directly in the head,” he said. “It was a field execution and a deliberate killing of a civilian driver who had complied with all instructions. He was wearing his orange safety vest and carried all the required permits, security clearances, and coordination that had been approved by the IDF.”

The IDF confirmed the shooting, but disputed the series of events. A military spokesperson said the convoy “had stopped along the Philadelphi Corridor and exited their trucks contrary to established procedures” and that one of the drivers “ran toward the troops” who “initiated the suspect apprehension protocol and, after perceiving an immediate threat, opened fire toward him.”

Jihad Saleem said that “drivers are subjected to daily violations, including beatings, abuse, humiliation, and being forced to stand for long hours under the sun.”

“Even more disturbing,” Saleem said, “the soldier who shot Ahmad talked to the three surviving drivers afterward and threatened them, saying they would meet the same fate as Ahmad. This clearly indicates that the attack was deliberate.”

Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza, which began in October 2023, has included the systematic restriction of humanitarian aid entering the strip, which has caused widespread starvation, which humanitarian groups have said Israel is using as a “weapon of war” against the Palestinian population.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said as of April 29, 2026, that it had recorded the killing of 593 aid workers in the territory, including eight since a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in October 2025.

The shooting of Ahmad Saleem follows the shooting of two other Palestinian aid drivers in May under similar circumstances. According to The Guardian, the two men had been detained by the IDF for days before being released near a roundabout in Rafah where they were each shot.

The month before, two drivers working for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) were killed by Israeli fire as they were filling their water trucks at an established distribution point.

Saleem is at least the 11th documented worker with WCK to have been killed by Israeli forces during the conflict. In April 2024, an Israeli strike hit a convoy clearly marked with the WCK logo and killed seven workers after the drivers had similarly coordinated their movements with the IDF.

That November, Israel bombed another vehicle, killing three WCK workers and two others, claiming that one of them had been involved in Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack against Israel, which was not independently confirmed and which the WCK said it had no knowledge of.

WCK said in a statement that it was “devastated” to learn of Saleem’s killing on Wednesday.

“Ahmad Nasser Saleem was doing what so many of our partners do every day in Gaza—working to get food to hungry people,” the group said. “We are in contact with his family, and our deepest grief is with them. WCK expects a full accounting of what happened. Humanitarian aid deliveries should never be a target.”

Article by Stephen Prager republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

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