Hamas kills at least 8 aid workers, GHF reports; source claims Hamas trying to disrupt aid distribution

Hamas killed at least eight aid workers from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in a targeted ambush while the workers, all local Palestinians, were en route to a food distribution site west of Khan Younis on June 11, the nonprofit group stated. The incident occurred around 10 pm local time as the team traveled toward one of GHF’s primary aid hubs.

The GHF stated that several additional team members were wounded in the ambush, and some may have been abducted. The nonprofit group has previously faced threats from Hamas, which has publicly denounced GHF’s independent distribution model and sought to disrupt its operations in recent weeks.

Weeks before the murders, individuals suspected to be Hamas Arrow Unit members attempted to undermine the distribution of aid at a GHF site, a former US security official familiar with operations at the nonprofit’s distribution facility told FDD’s The Long War Journal. The source was provided anonymity due to concerns about their safety.

Photos, footage, and other material related to operations at the GHF site reviewed by The Long War Journal and verified by the former US security official concluded that “agitators,” judged to be members of Hamas, embedded among the crowd at a GHF facility and attempted to disrupt the site. Security cameras near the aid facility in Wadi Gaza (southern Gaza) observed suspected Hamas Arrow Unit members conducting low-density operations (a military operation requiring a low number of people to execute) on three occasions, one on May 29 and two on June 1. The suspects encouraged large crowds to push against the site’s security personnel and attempt to force them from the facility, claim the sources.

Since the GHF began operating in Gaza, a series of attacks have occurred near distribution facilities in which Palestinians have been killed and wounded. On June 3, reports citing “Palestinian health officials,” a description indicating employees of the Hamas-run Health Ministry, and “witnesses” claimed that Israeli forces killed 27 Palestinians who were attempting to get aid. The Israeli military denied that it opened fire on people waiting to receive assistance, instead claiming that Israeli soldiers fired “near a few individual suspects” who left the designated route and disregarded warnings. Similar incidents involving competing casualty claims between Gazan health officials and the IDF have happened since, including on June 8 and on June 10.

On June 8, Hamas and its allied Palestinian factions published a joint statement condemning the GHF aid distribution sites and threatened those who associated with it.

“We affirm that the resistance security forces and units now have full authorization and mandate to strike forcefully and decisively against any entity or individual that collaborates or coordinates with the enemy’s schemes or any treasonous entity outside the law and the traditions of our people. All collaborators, thieves, and criminal armed gangs are legitimate targets for the resistance units and security,” the statement said.

A day before the statement made by the Palestinian factions, on June 7, threats against GHF staff reportedly made by Hamas forced the organization to shut down aid sites.

“The group [Hamas] issued direct threats against GHF operations. These threats made it impossible to proceed today without putting innocent lives at risk,” GHF said.

Despite the setbacks, GHF said in a June 11 press release that it had delivered over 16 million meals to Gazans.

What is the Arrow Unit?

The Arrow Unit is a specialized force established by the Hamas-run Interior Ministry to ostensibly act as law enforcement. However, evidence demonstrates the group uses the unit to maintain internal control over the population through intimidation, violence, and other punitive measures. Videos uploaded to social media attributed to the Arrow Unit show masked men beating and shooting Palestinians for alleged crimes.

On November 16, 2024, Quds Press reported that Gaza’s Interior Ministry had established the Arrow Unit within the police force to protect the “home front from any suspicious attempts to destabilize social stability.” The unit consists of Hamas police officers, members of the group’s broader security apparatus, and civilian volunteers.

On January 2, an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis killed Major General Mahmoud Salah, the police chief who founded the Arrow Unit in 2019. Several months later, on May 10, Israel eliminated the unit’s commander, Saqer Talib, in a targeted strike in Gaza City’s Sabra neighborhood.

Joe Truzman is an editor and senior research analyst at FDD’s Long War Journal focused primarily on Palestinian armed groups and non-state actors in the Middle East.