Gaza health authorities said Israeli forces on Thursday shot dead more than 100 Palestinians as they waited for aid delivery, but Israel blamed the deaths on crowds that surrounded aid trucks, saying victims had been trampled or run over, news agency Reuters reported citing officials. As per the Reuters report, at least 112 people were killed and more than 280 wounded in the incident near Gaza City.
Reuters report citing medics in Gaza said they could not cope with the flood of serious injuries, which came as the death toll in nearly five months of war passed 30,000, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Israel disputed the account provided by officials in Hamas-run Gaza, which has been bombarded by Israeli forces for months since the Palestinian militant group’s deadly rampage in southern Israel on October 7.
Incident To Affect Qatar Talks:
According to the report, Hamas has said that the incident could jeopardise talks in Qatar aimed at securing a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages it is holding. When asked if he thought it would complicate the talks, US President Joe Biden said: “I know it will”.
Here’s What Exactly Happened:
According to the Reuters report, the Israeli military stated that the trucks were operated by private contractors as part of an aid operation that it had been overseeing for the past four nights.
The report citing an Israeli official said there had been two incidents, hundreds of metres apart. In the first, dozens were killed or injured as they tried to take aid from the trucks and were trampled or run over.
He said there was a second, subsequent incident as the trucks moved off. Some people in the crowd approached troops who felt under threat and opened fire, killing an unknown number in a “limited response”, he said. He dismissed the casualty toll given by Gaza authorities but gave no figure himself.
In a later briefing, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari also said dozens had been trampled to death or injured in a fight to take supplies off the trucks.
הרמטכ״ל בזירת הפיגוע בעלי: ״בפעולה מקצועית של קצין מילואים שיצא מלחימה בעזה, האירוע הסתיים ונמנע אסון גדול עוד יותר״
הרמטכ״ל הגיע הלילה לזירת הפיגוע בתחנת הדלק בעלי וקיים הערכת מצב לחיזוק האבטחה במרחב, יחד עם מפקד אוגדת יהודה ושומרון, מח״ט בנימין, נציגי פיקוד המרכז, שב״כ ומשטרה. pic.twitter.com/QDorGntvhH
— דובר צה״ל דניאל הגרי – Daniel Hagari (@IDFSpokesperson) February 29, 2024
He said tanks escorting the trucks had subsequently fired warning shots to disperse the crowd and backed away when events began to get out of hand. “No IDF strike was conducted towards the aid convoy,” he said.
“The IDF was there conducting a humanitarian operation to secure the humanitarian corridor and allow the aid convoy to reach its designated distribution point”.
The US State Department said it was urgently seeking information on the incident as did the French foreign ministry.
Far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed during this conflict — not just today, but over the past 5 months.
Today’s tragic event that reportedly killed over 100 Palestinians underscores the need to reach an agreement that will get hostages out of Gaza and enable more… pic.twitter.com/aH23DirVwL
— Matthew Miller (@StateDeptSpox) February 29, 2024
Hamas Rejects Israeli Accounts:
According to Reuters, the Hamas issued a statement rejecting the Israeli account.
It said the Health Ministry had presented “undeniable” evidence of “direct firing at citizens, including headshots aimed at immediate killing, in addition to the testimonies of all witnesses who confirmed being targeted with direct fire without posing any threat to the occupying army”.
The White House said Biden discussed the recent firing incident with the leaders of Egypt and Qatar, as well as ways to secure the release of Israeli hostages and a six-week ceasefire.
President Biden had calls today with Amir Al-Thani of Qatar and President Al-Sisi of Egypt about the war in Gaza, efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas, and the urgency of expanding the flow of humanitarian assistance. pic.twitter.com/aVQSqBD1gq
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 1, 2024
Reuters report said that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas labelled the firing an “ugly massacre” by Israel.
French foreign ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine stated that Israel was responsible under international law for protecting aid distribution to civilians, Reuters reported.
According to Palestinian health authorities, 30,035 Palestinians have been confirmed killed and more than 70,000 wounded in Israel’s offensive, which began following the October 7 attack in which Israel claimed Hamas gunmen killed 1,200 people and kidnapped 253.
Much of Gaza has been reduced to rubble, and the majority of its 2.3 million residents have been displaced at least once.
Aid deliveries to northern Gaza have been sparse and chaotic, passing through more active military zones to an area where the UN claims many people are starving, with footage showing desperate crowds forming around supply trucks.
UN and other relief agencies have complained that Israel has obstructed or limited their attempts to deliver aid. Israel denies imposing any restrictions on humanitarian aid.
