JERUSALEM/CAIRO (Reuters) – At least eight Palestinians who worked for the U.S-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation died in an ambush, the GHF said on Thursday, blaming Hamas militants for the killings that rocked the troubled food distribution operation.

A bus carrying about two dozen GHF workers was raked with gunfire on Wednesday night as it headed to an aid center in southern Gaza, the foundation said, adding that many of its staff were injured and some might have been kidnapped.

Separately, the local health authority said 103 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire and 400 wounded in the past 24 hours across the battered enclave – including 21 people killed this morning near GHF sites.

Locals said the internet was down across much of the Gaza Strip, adding to the chaos and confusion. The United Nations said the blackout was probably caused by Israel military activity damaging the last cable into the enclave.

“Lifelines to emergency services, humanitarian coordination, and critical information for civilians have all been cut. There is a full internet blackout, and mobile networks are barely functioning,” deputy U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq said.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment.

GHF’s interim director, John Acree, said his organization had considered closing its centers on Thursday because of the bus ambush, but in the end, opted to remain open.

“We decided that the best response to Hamas’ cowardly murderers was to keep delivering food for the people of Gaza who are counting on us,” he said in a statement.

Hamas declined to comment on the shootings.

Social media channels in Gaza said Hamas had targeted the bus because it was allegedly carrying GHF workers tied to Yasser Abu Shabab, the leader of a large clan that has challenged Hamas’s supremacy in the enclave and is being armed by Israel.

Abu Shabab released a statement on his Facebook page denouncing images posted on social media showing Gazans allegedly killed by Hamas and as it seeks to safeguard its 18-year rule in the war-smashed territory.

“Rumours of executions and killings are being spread by the corrupt, mercenaries, and criminals of Hamas in an attempt to sow fear in the hearts of those who seek change and liberation from terrorism, oppression, and its unjust rule,” he said.

Mass Evacuations

The Israeli military said it was continuing to target Hamas fighters in Gaza, killing three militants who fired an anti-tank missile towards its soldiers, and hitting a building near a medical centre that it said was being used to make weapons.

It also said it had arrested several Hamas members in Syria overnight, accusing them of planning to attack Israelis.

The military ordered residents of several neighborhoods in central Gaza to evacuate and head to western Gaza City.

“The IDF is operating with great force in the areas where you are located,” IDF Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a post on X.

He later issued a similar warning for residents in the city center of Khan Younis, to the south, and nearby blocks.

The Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) association called for the protection of the city’s Nasser Hospital and the hundreds of patients and healthcare workers inside, as Israeli attacks threatened to shut down the facility.

Israel has fought for more than 20 months to eliminate Hamas after it launched deadly attacks October 7, 2023 that ignited the war. All efforts to end the conflict through negotiations have failed.

Despite the bus attack, GHF said it handed out 2.6 million meals on Thursday – a daily record since it started operations in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of food distribution that the United Nations says is deeply flawed.

“This model will not address the deepening hunger. The dystopian ‘Hunger Games’ cannot become the new reality,” Philippe Lazzarini, the chief of the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), wrote on X.

“The UN including @UNRWA has the knowledge, expertise & community trust to provide dignified & safe assistance. Just let the humanitarians do their jobs,” he added.

Israel has repeatedly called for UNRWA to be disbanded, accusing it of having ties with Hamas. UNRWA has denied this.

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says more than 180 people have been killed by Israeli fire near the aid centres over the past three weeks, as the aid effort repeatedly degenerated into chaos and terror with locals scrabbling for limited supplies.

Israel has contested the death tally, accusing Hamas of causing much of the mayhem.

Besides the GHF distribution effort, Israel is also letting into Gaza trucks carrying flour for the handful of bakeries that are still operating.

For the first time in months, Israel allowed humanitarian trucks to enter northern Gaza directly overnight – with 56 lorries carrying supplies from the U.N.’s World Food Programme crossing into the largely devastated region.

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(Reporting by Crispian Balmer and Nidal Al-Mughrabi; additional reporting by Michelle Nichols; Alexander Cornwell, Maayan Lubell, Jana Choukeir and Ahmed Elimam, editing by Ed Osmond and Andrew Heavens)