Israel-Gaza live updates: Ambulance crew shot at by Israeli forces in West Bank

An international aid convoy was targeted by an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza, on Thursday, killing four Palestinians, Anera, an international aid organization based out of Washington, D.C., said in a press release Friday.

Four community members "with experience in previous missions" requested to take command of the lead vehicle in the convoy after leaving the Kerem Shalom crossing, "citing concerns the route was unsafe and at risk of being looted," Anera said in the release about the incident Friday.

"The four community members were neither vetted nor coordinated in advance, and Israeli authorities allege that the lead car was carrying numerous weapons. The Israeli airstrike was carried out without any prior warning or communication," Anera said.

The Israeli military said "armed individuals" joined one of the cars in the Anera-coordinated convoy and "began to lead the convoy, while the IDF was monitoring the situation," in a statement about the incident obtained by ABC News.

"After ruling out potential harm to the trucks, as well as a clear identification of weapons, a strike was carried out targeting the armed individuals," the IDF said.

No Anera staff members were harmed or killed in the incident, but one Anera employee who was in the second vehicle of the convoy "witnessed the incident at close range," Anera said in the release.

"Despite this attack, the remainder of the convoy continued its mission and successfully delivered the critical aid to the hospital," Anera said in the release.

This is the second instance of an aid vehicle being targeted by the Israeli military in Gaza this week. The World Food Programme announced it was pausing operations in Gaza Wednesday after a clearly marked aid vehicle was targeted by Israeli shelling Tuesday.

-ABC News' Anna Burd

Israel killed a local Hamas commander, Wassem Hazem, in the West Bank city of Jenin on Friday, the Israel Defense Forces said in a release. Hamas confirmed the killing of the commander in a statement.

Hazem was the head of the Hamas terrorist organization in Jenin, according to the IDF.

This is the third day of the Israeli army's ongoing operation in the West Bank.

-ABC News' Anna Burd and Nasser Atta

A two-round polio vaccination campaign will begin in Gaza on Sunday, the World Health Organization's top representative for Palestinian territories, Rik Peeperkorn, told reporters at the United Nations Thursday.

The first part of the polio vaccination campaign will occur in three, three-day phases: a three-day phase for Central Gaza, a three-day phase for South Gaza and a three-day phase for North Gaza, Peeperkorn said.

There will be two rounds of vaccinations in the "split of four weeks," Peeperkorn said.

"The three days might not be enough to achieve adequate vaccination, so we will monitor throughout the campaign. It has been agreed, when needed, the campaign will be extended by one day by zone or even more if necessary," Peeperkorn said.

At least 1.26 million doses of vaccines have been delivered to Gaza already and 400,000 additional doses will arrive in Gaza soon, Peeperkorn said. The goal is to achieve 90% vaccination coverage during each round, Peeperkorn said.

The vaccines will be provided to more than 640,000 children under age 10, Peeperkorn said.

An Israeli official confirmed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to limited pauses in fighting to allow for the vaccination campaign.

"I'm not going to say this is the ideal way forward, but this is a workable way forward. Not doing anything would be really bad, we have to stop this transmission in Gaza," Peeperkorn said.

Israeli forces killed the "head of a terrorist network," Mohammed Jabar, in the West Bank Thursday, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Nadav Shoshani told reporters Thursday.

Jabar and "four other armed operatives that were all directly connected to his network" were in a mosque when they were killed by Israeli forces, Shoshani said.

The bodies of Jabar and the four others killed in the mosque have not been handed over to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the ministry said.

IDF special forces were deployed to the specific area where Jabar was located. There was a significant exchange of fire between the armed terrorists hiding inside the mosque and Israeli forces, according to Shoshani.

Jabar was allegedly planning future attacks, the IDF said.

-ABC News' Anna Burd and Nasser Atta