US blames Hamas for attack that hurt two US aid workers in Gaza

By Alexander Cornwell and Charlotte Greenfield

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -The United States on Saturday blamed Hamas for an attack that injured two American aid workers from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation at a food distribution site in Gaza.

The U.S.- and Israeli-backed GHF said in a statement that the injured Americans were receiving medical treatment and were in a stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries.

"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," the GHF said.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce blamed "Hamas terrorists" for the attack.

"This act of violence against the people actually bringing relief to Gazans lays bare the depravity of Hamas," she said in a post on X.

"GHF has contributed over 62 MILLION MEALS - nothing will stop these courageous aid workers. We are praying for the rapid recovery of the injured Americans."

The Israeli military earlier accused what it called "terrorist organisations" of sabotaging the distribution of aid in Gaza.

GHF, which began distributing aid in Gaza in May, employs private U.S. military contractors to provide security at their sites.

Gaza has seen an escalation in violence as efforts continue to reach a ceasefire agreement. Hamas on Friday said it had responded positively to a U.S.-brokered deal and was prepared to enter talks. U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.

KILLINGS NEAR AID DISTRIBUTION SITES

Gazan authorities reported at least 70 people have been killed in the territory by the Israeli military in the last 24 hours, including 23 near aid distribution sites. The ministry did not specify where or how exactly they had been killed.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the reports.

In a statement on Friday, the military said troops had killed 100 militants in Gaza in the past week, and that it had "operational control" over 65% of Gaza after an offensive against Hamas fighters in the north.

The Hamas-run interior ministry in Gaza on Thursday had warned residents of the coastal enclave not to assist the GHF, saying deadly incidents near its distribution sites endangered hungry Gazans.

The GHF bypasses traditional aid channels, including the United Nations, which says the U.S.-based organisation is neither impartial nor neutral.

Since Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade on Gaza on May 19, the U.N. says more than 400 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid handouts. A senior U.N. official said last week that the majority of people killed were trying to reach aid distribution sites of the GHF.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered in October 2023, when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Gaza's health ministry says Israel's retaliatory military assault on the enclave has killed over 57,000 Palestinians. It has also caused a hunger crisis, internally displaced Gaza's entire population and prompted accusations of genocide and war crimes. Israel denies the accusations.

(Reporting by Alexander Cornwell, Charlotte Greenfield and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Mark Potter, Sharon Singleton and Daniel Wallis)