World Food Programme condemns Israeli attack on its Gaza convoy

GENEVA (Reuters) -The U.N. World Food Programme said on Monday that Israeli forces had opened fire on one of its convoys in the besieged Palestinian enclave of Gaza in what it called a "horrifying incident".

The agency said the convoy of three vehicles carrying eight staff members from central Gaza to Gaza City in the north was struck by 16 bullets near the Wadi Gaza checkpoint on Sunday, causing no injuries but immobilising the convoy.

The vehicles were clearly marked and had received prior security clearances from Israeli authorities, a WFP statement said.

"The World Food Programme (WFP) strongly condemns the horrifying incident on January 5," it said.

"This unacceptable event is just the latest example of the complex and dangerous working environment that WFP and other agencies are operating in today," WFP said, calling for improvements in security conditions to allow aid to continue.

The Israeli military said it did everything possible to facilitate the transfer of aid and said it was looking into what happened.

"The incident was reviewed, operating procedures have been clarified, and findings from the inquiry will be analyzed," it said in a statement.

International aid agencies working to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza have frequently accused Israeli forces of hampering or threatening their operations amid Israel's campaign to wipe out Hamas militants.

(Reporting by Emma Farge; editing by Matthias Williams, Angus MacSwan and Cynthia Osterman)

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