The US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said two American staff were wounded Saturday in an "attack" on one of its aid centres in southern Gaza.
"This morning, two American aid workers were injured in a targeted terrorist attack during food distribution activities at SDS-3 in Khan Younis," the organisation said in a statement, noting that the employees were in stable condition.
"The attack – which preliminary information indicates was carried out by two assailants who threw two grenades at the Americans – occurred at the conclusion of an otherwise successful distribution in which thousands of Gazans safely received food," it added.
An officially private effort, the GHF began operations on May 26 after Israel halted supplies into the Gaza Strip for more than two months, sparking famine warnings.
GHF operations have been marred by chaotic scenes and near-daily reports of Israeli forces firing on people waiting to collect rations.
More than 500 people have been killed while waiting to access rations from its distribution sites, the UN Human Rights Office said Friday.
The Israeli military has blamed Hamas for the incidents.
"GHF has repeatedly warned of credible threats from Hamas, including explicit plans to target American personnel, Palestinian aid workers and the civilians who rely on our sites for food. Today's attack tragically affirms those warnings," the foundation said.
Civil defence says schools hit
Israel's security cabinet was expected to meet after the end of the Jewish sabbath at sundown in Saturday to discuss Israel's next steps as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to leave for Washington for talks on Monday with US President Donald Trump.
Trump has been making a renewed push for an end to nearly 21 months of war in Gaza, where the civil defence agency said 32 people were killed in Israeli military operations on Saturday.
Hamas on Friday said it was ready to start talks "immediately" on a US-sponsored proposal for a Gaza ceasefire.
Read moreHamas ready to start talks on Gaza ceasefire proposal 'immediately'
"No decision has been made yet on that issue," an Israeli government official told AFP when asked about Hamas's proposal.
Meanwhile, civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said Israeli military operations killed 32 people across the war-battered territory on Saturday.
Bassal said Saturday's dead included eight people killed in two strikes on schools in Gaza City.
The Hamas attack of October 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 57,268 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
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