A mission of mercy, then a fatal mistake: How an aid convoy in Gaza became Israel's target
It was hours after sundown when the eight aid trucks drove from the makeshift jetty, cobbled together from tons of wreckage left across Gaza by months of war.
The trucks were escorted by three vehicles carrying aid workers from the World Central Kitchen, the relief organization that had arranged the massive food shipment. All seven aid workers wore body armor. The cars were marked, including on the roof, with the group’s emblem, a multi-colored frying pan.
After a grueling crawl along a beaten up road, it seemed like mission accomplished. The convoy dropped off its precious cargo at a warehouse, and the team prepared to head home.
There wasn’t much more than a sliver of moon that night. The roads were dark, except for occasional patches where light spilled from buildings with their own generators.
By a few minutes after 10 p.m. the convoy was moving south on Al Rashid Street, Gaza’s coastal road.
The first missile struck a little more than an hour later.
Soon after, all
