UAE Company Disputes Allegations of Israel Killing Aid Workers in Gaza
A Dubai-based Emirati company operating in Gaza has repudiated claims of responsibility for the deaths of its contracted aid workers, who were reportedly killed by the Israeli army during an airstrike. This incident occurred amidst the ongoing conflict in Gaza, which has lasted for 11 months.
The attack targeted a convoy from the American Near East Refugee Relief Organization (ANERA), resulting in the deaths of four members of a local Palestinian protection team.
Palestinian sources indicate that the airstrike hit a vehicle leading the ANERA convoy, which was transporting food and fuel to the Emirates Red Crescent hospital, around 3:35 p.m. on Thursday, August 29, 2024.
Israeli shelling resulted in the deaths of four Palestinians who were members of a local protection team contracted through Move One, a Dubai-based company with a branch in Gaza, though its operating license in the Strip remains unverified.
Move One is tasked with transporting and securing ANERA’s aid team, and the deceased were engaged in securing the convoy.
The Emirati company swiftly distanced itself from the deaths of the four workers, asserting that these individuals had not been vetted or coordinated with beforehand, even though it admitted they were part of its protection team.
Observers perceived the Emirati company’s disavowal of the Palestinian workers’ deaths as a significant moral shortcoming and a new source of controversy for Abu Dhabi. They saw it as a deliberate attempt to exonerate the occupying forces from responsibility for their actions and to evade accountability for their violations.
Last April, the recent Israeli targeting of employees of the World Central Kitchen (WCK) organization unintentionally exposed an aspect of the UAE’s intelligence activity in Gaza.
The Israeli targeting on Monday evening, which sparked widespread international condemnation, led to the killing of 7 foreign employees of the World Central Kitchen organization as a result of their bombing in the central Gaza Strip.
The American organization reported that among the seven employees killed in the Israeli strike were three Britons, along with individuals from Poland and Australia. The employees were traveling in two vehicles marked with the organization’s logo, and their movements had been coordinated with the Israeli army.
The British newspaper The Sun revealed that the three Britons killed were intelligence officers employed by Solace Global, a British security firm based in Dorset. One of the deceased had previously served in the Royal Navy and the Special Security Forces.
These three were working for a British intelligence company called Solace Global in Gaza, which is affiliated with the UAE intelligence service. Abu Dhabi had tasked them with coordinating with Israel on intelligence missions against Palestinian resistance factions, their activists, and their field sites.
The World Central Kitchen (WCK) has been collaborating with the UAE for several years and is a key partner in executing an American plan to establish a seaport in Gaza, funded by Abu Dhabi and coordinated with full Israeli supervision.
WCK was also among the first international organizations to become active in Israel following the Palestinian resistance factions’ operation, known as “Al-Aqsa Flood,” on October 7. The organization was involved under the pretense of providing aid to Israeli victims with support from Emirati funds.
Recently, the Israeli army targeted WCK vehicles with a Hermes 450 drone, falsely alleging that Palestinian militants were using these vehicles as cover.
The convoy was travelling along the Rashid Road between Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis in central Gaza on its way to deliver aid in a demilitarised zone when it was targeted by the deadly Israeli attack.
The Sun reported that the three British men killed in the Israeli attack were intelligence officers, one of whom had previously worked in the Royal Navy, another in the Special Security Forces, and the third was a former British Army soldier.
The newspaper reported that the three dead were:
– John Chapman, 57, was a well-known British SBS special forces hero.
– James Henderson, 33, who served in the British Royal Marines for six years.
– James Kirby, a former British soldier.
WCK participated in the first shipment of aid to Gaza sent via a sea lane from Cyprus last month, carrying nearly two hundred tons of food aid, funded entirely by the UAE.
The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement condemning the Israeli attack on the World Central Kitchen team, describing the organization as “the UAE’s partner in the Amalthea initiative to enhance humanitarian assistance for civilians in northern Gaza.”
In recent weeks, the UAE government has been accused of exploiting the famine in Gaza, caused by Israel’s ongoing conflict, as part of a strategy to increase its influence and conduct surveillance in coordination with Tel Aviv.
The American Wall Street Journal disclosed a covert Israeli plan to appoint individuals opposed to Palestinian resistance factions to oversee the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza, with support from the UAE and Egypt.
According to the newspaper, Israeli and Arab officials have indicated that Israeli security officials are quietly devising a plan to distribute aid in the Gaza Strip, which could eventually lead to the establishment of a Palestinian-led governing authority with a significant role for the UAE.
Earlier last month, international diplomatic sources revealed that the UAE had coordinated with Israel and the US administration on a strategy designed to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza. This strategy is purportedly intended as a cover for continuing military actions against Palestinian resistance groups and conducting extensive intelligence operations.
The sources told Emirates Leaks that Abu Dhabi reached understandings with Tel Aviv and Washington to reduce the intensity of Arab and Islamic anger towards the developments taking place in Gaza, especially the worsening famine coinciding with the month of Ramadan.
The sources explained that the Emirati officials pushed for Israel’s approval in coordination with Washington to ensure increased entry of humanitarian supplies, including intensifying air and sea aid.
According to sources, the UAE aims to use the increased humanitarian support as a cover to allow Israel to persist in its war on Gaza, with the goal of eradicating Palestinian resistance and denying it any gains.
While facilitating a significant land supply to Israel during its six-month conflict with Gaza, the UAE is accused of contributing to the deaths of Palestinian civilians under the pretext of providing relief from starvation.
Palestinian sources revealed that Emirati aircraft killed seven Palestinian citizens and injured others in early March, during a mistaken airdrop of humanitarian aid in Gaza City amid the worsening famine situation as Israel continues its genocide for the sixth consecutive month.
In this context, leaked documents have revealed a UAE involvement in a conspiracy with Israel and the US administration aimed at implementing a dangerous plan against Palestinians in Gaza.
According to Emirates Leaks, the documents indicate that the US initiative to establish a temporary port in Gaza, supported fully by the UAE, poses significant risks to the future of the Palestinian people and is part of a broader strategy to forcibly displace them.
According to the documents, senior Israeli and American military officials held intensive discussions with their counterparts in the UAE in the past two weeks to formulate the step of establishing the temporary port and draw up plans for the next stage.
The documents reveal that the initiative to set up the port, encouraged by the UAE, is intended to alleviate the humanitarian pressure on Gaza’s residents and to create a misleading narrative of providing aid.However, this move is seen as a cover for a more dangerous agenda.
