Palestinian gunmen in the Gaza Strip shot and killed an aid worker from a US-based charity, firing on her car in what government officials told her family was a case of mistaken identity, Reuters reports.

The car in which Islam Hejazy, Gaza program manager at HEAL Palestine, was travelling was intercepted on Thursday in the area of Khan Younis in the south of the enclave.

Gunmen riding in three cars sprayed the vehicle with dozens of bullets, according to residents and the woman’s family.

“She was the mother of two small children and a humanitarian with the highest ethics and professionalism,” HEAL Palestine, posted on its Facebook page.

“HEAL Palestine is more dedicated than ever to serving Gaza, in her honor. Ceasefire now,” it added.

Her family issued a statement on Friday, saying they were told by government parties at the hospital where her body was taken that she was killed by mistake. Her killers, whose identity wasn’t immediately clear, had failed to identify the vehicle she was driving, they said.

There has been no immediate comment from Hamas.