Gaza: Israeli army shoots Palestinians during food distribution

Israeli troops fired on a large crowd of Palestinians who were running to remove food from an aid convoy in Gaza City on Thursday, witnesses said. More than 100 people have been killed, bringing the death toll since the start of the Israel-Hamas war to more than 30,000, according to health authorities.

Israeli authorities acknowledged that troops opened fire, saying they did so after the crowd approached in a threatening manner. The officials insisted on anonymity to give details of what happened, after the army said in a statement that “dozens of people were killed and injured due to the pushing, trampling and of the crushing of trucks”._

Gaza City and surrounding areas in the north of the enclave were the first targets of the Israeli offensive (air, sea and land offensive), launched in response to the Hamas attack on October 7.

While many Palestinians have fled the Israeli invasion in the north, an estimated few hundred thousand remain in the region, which suffered widespread devastation and was largely isolated during the conflict.

NGOs say it has become almost impossible to provide humanitarian aid in most of Gaza due to difficulty in coordinating with the Israeli military, ongoing hostilities and the breakdown of law and order. , with crowds of desperate people overwhelming aid convoys. According to the United Nations, a quarter of Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians face starvation; about 80% of them fled their homes.

Shocked witnesses

Kamel Abu Nahel, who is being treated for a gunshot wound at Shifa Hospital, said he and others went to the distribution point in the middle of the night because they heard that he there would be a food delivery. “We’ve been eating animal food for two months“, did he declare.

He said Israeli troops opened fire on the crowd as people removed boxes of flour and canned goods from trucks, causing them to disperse, with some hiding under cars.

After the shooting stopped, people returned to the trucks and the soldiers opened fire again. He was shot in the leg and fell, then a truck ran over his leg as he sped off, he said.

Alaa Abu Daiya, another witness, said Israeli troops opened fire and a tank fired a shell. According to Fares Afana, head of the Kamal Adwan Hospital ambulance service, doctors who arrived at the scene on Thursday found “dozens or hundreds” of people lying on the ground.

He said there were not enough ambulances to pick up all the dead and injured and some were being taken to hospitals in donkey carts. Another man in the crowd – who gave only his first name, Ahmad, because he was being treated at a hospital for gunshot wounds to his arm and leg – said he waited two hours before someone with a horse-drawn cart has room to take him to Al-Chifa hospital.

The health system is running out of steam

Dr. Mohammed Salha, acting director of Al-Awda Hospital, said the facility received 161 injured patients, most of whom appeared to have been shot. He said the hospital could only perform the most essential surgeries because it had run out of fuel to power emergency generators.

Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said that in addition to the 104 people killed, around 760 people were injured. The Ministry of Health spoke of a “massacre”.

Separately, the Health Ministry said the Palestinian death toll from the war stood at 30,035 and 70,457 people were injured. It does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its figures, but says women and children make up about two-thirds of those killed.

The ministry, part of the Hamas-led Gaza government, keeps detailed records of casualties. The figures it has established for previous wars largely match those of the UN, independent experts and even those of of Israel.

Talks in sight

The United States, Egypt and Qatar are working to secure an agreement between Israel and Hamas for a pause in fighting and the release of some of the hostages.

Mediators hope to reach an agreement before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, around March 10. But so far, Israel and Hamas have remained far apart in public over their demands.

In a statement condemning Thursday’s attack, Hamas said it would not allow negotiations “serve as a cover for the enemy to continue his crimes.

Meanwhile, U.N. officials have warned of further mass casualties if Israel follows through on its promise to attack the far southern city of Rafah, where more than half of the 2.3 Millions of Gaza residents have fled.

They also say an offensive on Rafah could decimate what remains of the aid operations. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are believed to have remained in the northern Gaza Strip despite an Israeli order to evacuate the area in October, with many reduced to eating fodder to survive. According to the United Nations, one in six children under the age of two in the north suffers from acute malnutrition and wasting.