At least 112 Palestinians were killed and more than 750 injured after Israeli troops opened fire on hundreds of Palestinians waiting for food aid southwest of Gaza City.
Here’s what we know:
What happened and when?
The incident occurred around 4:30 a.m. local time (02:30 GMT) on Thursday, when people gathered on Harun al-Rashid Street in Gaza, where aid trucks carrying flour were reportedly on their way.
A convoy of aid trucks passed through the checkpoint, heading north, as people began to gather in large groups. According to the Israeli army, a convoy of 31 trucks entered Gaza but nearly 20 entered the north on Monday and Tuesday.
As people gathered in large groups waiting for much-needed aid, they came under fire from all manner of military equipment, Tel Aviv Tribune’s Hani Mahmoud reported from Rafah. According to an Associated Press report, people removed boxes of flour and canned goods from trucks.
After the first shots stopped, people returned to the trucks, but the soldiers opened fire again.
“After opening fire, Israeli tanks advanced and crushed many corpses and wounded,” said Tel Aviv Tribune’s Ismail al-Ghoul, reporting the scene.
Where did the shooting take place?
Palestinian authorities said the incident took place on al-Rashid Street, Nabulsi roundabout, southwest of Gaza City.
We are in northern Gaza, where food deliveries are rare. The first deliveries in over a month arrived this week.
This came a day after Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the World Food Program (WFP), told the United Nations Security Council that more than 500,000 people, or one in four people, were at risk of starvation, with one in six children below the minimum age. age two is considered acutely malnourished.
How do Palestinian witnesses describe what happened?
Palestinians in Gaza said Israeli forces committed a massacre by shooting into a crowd of people waiting to collect desperately needed food aid.
According to Tel Aviv Tribune’s Mahmoud, the more he spoke to people, “the clearer it became that they thought it was a trap, an ambush.”
“We came here to get our hands on help. I’ve been waiting since yesterday noon. Around 4:30 a.m., trucks started arriving. The Israelis opened fire on us as if it were a trap. Once we approached the aid trucks, Israeli tanks and warplanes started shooting at us,” a witness at the scene told Tel Aviv Tribune.
Witnesses said the stampede occurred following Israeli fire and that the trucks also ran over injured people, adding to the death toll. Tel Aviv Tribune verified that donkey carts were used to transport people to hospital as no ambulances could reach the area.
“We were going to bring flour… then Israeli snipers shot at us,” another person in the area told Tel Aviv Tribune. “They shot me in the leg. I am unable to get up,” he added.
What did Israel say?
The Israeli military said the trucks were run by private contractors as part of a humanitarian operation they had been overseeing for four nights.
But the Israeli version of events changed as the day went on.
Reporting from occupied East Jerusalem, Tel Aviv Tribune’s Bernard Smith said the Israeli army “first tried to blame the crowd,” saying dozens of people were injured after being crushed and trampled during a stampede as aid trucks arrived.
“And then, after some pressure, the Israelis went on to say that their troops felt threatened, that hundreds of soldiers had approached them in a way that posed a threat to them, so they responded by opening fire,” Smith added. But they did not explain how these people posed a threat.
Witnesses insisted that the stampede occurred only after Israeli troops began shooting at people searching for food.
What is the current aid situation in Gaza?
Since the start of the war, humanitarian agencies have said Israel is delaying deliveries. Israel denies this allegation.
“The risk of famine is fueled by the inability to deliver essential supplies to Gaza in sufficient quantities and the near-impossible operational conditions our personnel on the ground face,” Skau said.
He described the dangerous conditions faced by WFP trucks trying to transport food north earlier this month. “There were delays at checkpoints; they were met with gunfire and other violence; food was looted along the way; and at their destination, they were overwhelmed by desperately hungry people,” he added.
A month ago, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague declared that Israel must do everything to prevent acts of genocide in the territory.
But according to human rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, Israel “has failed to take even minimal steps to comply.”
The number of trucks has decreased by 40 percent since the ICJ ruling, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
What were the reactions?
The office of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned what it called a “horrific massacre carried out by the Israeli occupation army.”
UN chief Antonio Guterres also condemned the incident.
“I condemn Thursday’s incident in Gaza in which more than 100 people were reportedly killed or injured while seeking life-saving assistance,” he said. “Desperate civilians in Gaza need urgent help, including those in the north where the UN has been unable to provide aid for over a week. »
I condemn Thursday’s incident in Gaza in which more than 100 people were reportedly killed or injured while seeking life-saving assistance.
Desperate civilians in Gaza need urgent aid, including those in the north where @UN has not been able to provide help for over a week.
– António Guterres (@antonioguterres) March 1, 2024
The US government has said it is seeking answers from Israel, although it has refused to directly condemn the killings.
“Far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed in this conflict, not just today, but over the past five months,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said during a briefing. Press.
“We have been in contact with the Israeli government since early this morning and understand that an investigation is underway. We will monitor this investigation closely and push for answers,” Miller added.
Jordan’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the attack.
“We condemn the brutal targeting by Israeli occupying forces of the gathering of Palestinians waiting for help at the Nabulsi roundabout near Al-Rashid Street in Gaza,” he said in a statement. .
Saudi Arabia called on the international community “to take a firm stance in compelling Israel to respect international humanitarian law.”
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said his government was suspending arms purchases from Israel.
Pidiendo comida, but more than 100 Palestinians were attacked by Netanyahu. It is a genocide that we call and recuerda the Hocausto as well as the world powers will not recognize them.
The world must block Netanyahu. Colombia suspends its arms purchase from Israel.
– Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) February 29, 2024
“While asking for food, more than 100 Palestinians were killed by Netanyahu,” Petro said. “It’s called genocide and it’s reminiscent of the Holocaust, even if world powers don’t like to recognize it. The world must block Netanyahu. Colombia suspends all arms purchases from Israel,” he said on X.
In France, President Emmanuel Macron also expressed his “strongest condemnation”.
Deep indignation at the images coming from Gaza where civilians have been targeted by Israeli soldiers.
I express my strongest condemnation of these shootings and call for truth, justice and respect for international law.
-Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) March 1, 2024
What does this mean for war?
Thursday’s killing is one of the deadliest incidents in Israel’s war on Gaza.
It also came amid negotiations between Israel and Hamas aimed at reaching an agreement to suspend fighting and allow humanitarian aid to Gaza.
After the shooting, Hamas issued a statement warning that it might stop participating in negotiations.
On Monday, US President Joe Biden expressed optimism and said he hoped there would be a ceasefire by “next Monday”.
However, Israel and Hamas subsequently downplayed prospects for rapid progress in their negotiations, and Biden later acknowledged that a truce could take time.
According to the White House, Biden was recently in contact with the leaders of Qatar and Egypt in an effort to continue negotiations.
President Biden had calls today with Emir Al-Thani of Qatar and Egyptian President Al-Sisi regarding the war in Gaza, efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas and the urgency to expand the flow of humanitarian aid. pic.twitter.com/aVQSqBD1gq
– The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 1, 2024
