Gunmen shoot and kill aid worker in Gaza, charity and family say

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

CAIRO (Reuters) -Gunmen in the Gaza Strip shot and killed a Palestinian aid worker from a U.S. based charity, firing on her car in what officials from the Hamas-run government told her family was a case of mistaken identity.

The car in which Islam Hejazy, Gaza program manager at HEAL Palestine, was traveling was intercepted on Thursday in the area of Khan Younis in the south of the enclave.

Gunmen riding in three cars sprayed the vehicle with dozens of bullets, according to residents and the woman’s family.

“She was the mother of two small children and a humanitarian with the highest ethics and professionalism,” HEAL Palestine, posted on its Facebook page.

“HEAL Palestine is more dedicated than ever to serving Gaza, in her honor. Ceasefire now,” it added.

Her family issued a statement on Friday, saying they were told by government parties at the hospital where her body was taken that she was killed by mistake. Her killers, whose identity was not disclosed, had failed to identify the vehicle she was driving, they said.

Later on Friday, the Hamas-run interior ministry said it had launched an investigation into Hejazi’s death, which it described in its statement as an “accident”, without further details.

“That was a bigger shock .. How would an innocent soul be wasted and 90 bullets fired at her car just for mistaken identification?” the family said in a statement published by Palestinian media.

Reuters was not able to verify the number of bullets fired.

The incident highlights growing chaos and anarchy in Gaza almost a year into Israel’s military offensive, which the Hamas-run government says has weakened the ability of its security services to police the streets.

Palestinians have complained of rampant theft, gangsters, and price-gouging merchants. Gaza has a population of 2.3 million people, most of whom have been internally displaced by the war, which has killed 41,500 of them, according to Gaza health authorities.

Israel and Hamas have been fighting since gunmen from the Palestinian militant group stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and capturing some 250 hostages, by Israeli tallies.

(Reporting by Nidal al-MughrabiEditing by Sharon Singleton and Peter Graff)