At least five Palestinians working for the Israel-U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation were killed and several injured after Hamas gunmen allegedly opened fire on a bus bringing them to one of its distribution hubs in southern Gaza.

Israel’s use of aid as a weapon of war has provoked outrage. It has prevented essential supplies from entering Gaza. And yet its new effort to distribute aid is also proving deeply controversial. Hamas says it is a front for the idf. International aid organisations have decried it. What is this new network and what is it trying to do?

The team is looking to source and verify material after the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation - a group backed by Israel and the US for aid distribution - said Hamas attacked a bus killing five of its workers. Hamas has so far not commented on the allegation

Egypt has blocked activists taking part in a planned march to Gaza, halting their attempt to reach the border and challenge Israel’s blockade on humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory before it could begin.

The group, which has been harshly criticized by the U.N. and other aid providers, said at least five people had died in an attack on one of its buses.

The body of a Palestinian is transported on a car as mourners attend the funeral of Palestinians who were killed, according to medics, in Israeli fire, at Al-Shifa hospital, in Gaza City, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

The U.N. General Assembly is expected to vote on a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages held by Hamas, and the opening of all Israeli border crossings for deliveries of desperately needed food and other aid.

Yair Yaakov was kidnapped by Islamic Jihad in the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. The other hostage will be named later, the Israeli military said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that the bodies of two hostages had been recovered from Gaza by the military and the domestic intelligence agency, the Shin Bet.

Thousands of activists from around the world are expected to descend on Egypt on Thursday for a “Global March to Gaza,” a movement aiming to break the Israeli blockade that has pushed the territory to the brink of famine.