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?

Multiple aid workers were killed after a bus was attacked in Gaza on Wednesday night, according to a US-backed humanitarian aid organization which accused Hamas of carrying out the assault.

The Palestinian death toll from the 20-month Israel-Hamas war climbed past 55,000, the Gaza Health Ministry said Wednesday, and local hospitals said at least 21 people were killed while on their way to aid distribution sites.