GAZA – The World Food Programme (WFP) is freezing employee movement in Gaza after one of its vehicles was targeted with repeated gunfire just meters from an Israeli checkpoint, according to a statement by the humanitarian agency. “Despite being clearly marked and receiving multiple clearances by Israeli authorities to approach, the vehicle was directly struck by gunfire as it was moving toward an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) checkpoint,” the statement by the agency read.

The armored vehicle was one of two returning from a mission escorting humanitarian aid through the Palestinian enclave. A photo released by the WFP showed multiple bullet marks in the driver’s side window; at least 10 bullets hit the vehicle, according to the agency. One of the employees onboard was physically harmed, it said.

The WFP is the UN’s main food relief agency, and a key pillar of the humanitarian aid network in besieged Gaza, distributing food throughout the devastated territory, where famine has been spreading for months. But ongoing airstrikes and repeated evacuation orders by Israeli forces have forced many of the agency’s food warehouses and community kitchens to shutter, according to the WFP. The IDF-designated “humanitarian zone” in Gaza is also steadily shrinking; in the past month alone, the IDF has reduced this zone by 38% – with the remaining space making up just over a tenth of Gaza’s total area, according to a CNN analysis.

Humanitarian workers typically coordinate their routes with Israeli forces in order to move with relative safety. “As last night’s events show, the current deconfliction system is failing and this cannot go on any longer,” WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain said in the statement. In April, aid workers from another hunger relief group, the World Central Kitchen, were killed in an Israeli attack while traveling through Gaza by car, despite coordinating with Israeli authorities on their route and itinerary. The airstrikes hit three cars in their convoy, killing three Britons, a Palestinian, a US-Canadian dual citizen, an Australian, and a Pole.

In a press briefing Wednesday, the UN Secretary General’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the WFP aid vehicle that was shot had been clearly marked, describing the WFP logo as “probably one of the most recognizable in the world” in conflict zones. He said the UN had formally protested to Israel over the incident and emphasized the responsibility of United Nations member states to protect UN aid workers, who serve populations in some of the world’s most dangerous places. (CNN)…[+]

BEIJING – Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, started a new round of China-U.S. strategic communication with U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Beijing.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that delivering on the common understandings reached by the two heads of state in San Francisco is the main task of the new round of China-U.S. strategic communication.

Wang welcomed Sullivan’s visit to China, noting that the bilateral ties are crucial to both countries and have global implications.

In the past few years, the relationship between China and the United States has been full of twists and turns, Wang said, adding that under the strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden, the two countries have achieved returning to what was agreed at the Bali summit and embarking on the journey to San Francisco.

Wang said that experience is worth summarizing and lessons need to be learned, stressing that the key is to anchor the general direction of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation.

It is the common responsibility of both China and the United States to implement the common understandings reached by the two heads of state in San Francisco, Wang said, noting that he looks forward to in-depth communication with the U.S. side over the next two days.

Wang said it is hoped that this communication will be strategic and substantive as always, and also more constructive. The two sides should overcome disturbances and remove obstacles in order to promote China-U.S. relations toward the San Francisco vision, truly achieving stable, healthy and sustainable development of bilateral ties.

Sullivan said he was pleased to be in China for his first visit as U.S. National Security Advisor, and thanked the Chinese side for the thoughtful arrangements.

President Biden is committed to managing the U.S.-China relationship responsibly, and ensuring that competition does not turn into conflict and that the two sides find ways to work together where common interests align, he added.

Sullivan said he looks forward to having a productive dialogue with the Chinese side on a wide range of issues through this strategic communication and implementing the common understandings reached by the two heads of state. (Xinhua)

Photo: Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, holds a new round of China-U.S. strategic communication with U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Beijing. (Xinhua/Ding Lin)…[+]

ROSTOV –  A Ukrainian drone attack has set an oil depot in Russia’s southern region of Rostov alight, the authorities said.

On Wednesday, regional Governor Vasily Golubev confirmed the overnight strike, saying on the Telegram messaging app that firefighters were extinguishing the blaze at the depot in Rostov’s Kamensky district, with no casualties reported.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense earlier said air defense units destroyed four drones over the region overnight, without mentioning the attack on the oil depot.

Three tanks were burning at the oil depot after two drones fell in the area, according to the Baza Telegram channel, which is close to Russian security services.

Ukraine’s strike marked its latest attack on Russian oil and gas facilities in retaliation for attacks on its energy infrastructure.

A large fire has been raging at an oil storage facility in Rostov’s city of Proletarsk since August 18 after an earlier Ukrainian drone attack some 200km (125 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

At the beginning of the month, another fuel storage depot in the Kamensky district was hit.

At the time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised his forces for striking oil facilities in Russia, saying the attacks would help bring a “just end” to the conflict.

The Russian ministry also said eight attack drones were destroyed over the Voronezh region, which borders Ukraine, but gave no details.

Alexander Gusev, the governor of Voronezh, said debris from a Ukraine-launched drone over the region sparked a fire “near explosive objects”, but that there had been no detonation.

Meanwhile, Russia said on Wednesday that it wanted the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to take a “more objective and clearer” stance on nuclear safety.

Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the United Nations nuclear watchdog should act “in favour of facts”, state news agency RIA reported, “ensuring safety and preventing the development of a scenario along a catastrophic path to which the Kyiv regime is pushing everyone”.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi visited the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant on Tuesday outside the town of Kurchatov in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces broke across the border three weeks ago.

Ukraine has not responded to Russian accusations that it attacked the plant. Asked by a reporter to condemn drone damage as a “nuclear provocation” by Ukraine, Grossi said “pointing fingers” was something he must take “extremely seriously”.

Grossi concluded the facility – the same model as the Chornobyl plant in Ukraine, which witnessed the world’s worst civilian nuclear disaster in 1986 – was vulnerable to a serious accident because it lacks a protective dome that could shield it from missiles, drones and artillery.

Russia’s National Guard claimed on Wednesday that its forces had defused unexploded United States-supplied munitions fired by Ukraine that were shot down just 5km (3 miles) from the Kursk plant.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine. (Al Jazeera)

Photo: Fire in the oil tanks. (Reuters)                        …[+]