More than 100 Palestinians were killed and some 700 others injured after Israeli troops opened fire on hundreds of people waiting for food aid southwest of Gaza City, health officials say, as the he besieged enclave is facing an unprecedented food crisis.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said Thursday that at least 104 people had been killed and more than 750 injured, while the Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned what it called a cold-blooded “massacre.”
The ministry said the attack was part of Israel’s ongoing “genocidal war.” He called on the international community to “urgently intervene” to establish a ceasefire as “the only way to protect civilians.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates// Condemns the Nablsi Square massacre in Gaza and calls for an immediate ceasefire as the only way to protect civilians.#Gaza_under_attack#CeasefireNow#Palestine#IsraeliWarCrimes pic.twitter.com/AaoEtAofMC
— State of Palestine – MAE 🇵🇸🇵🇸 (@pmofa) February 29, 2024
People had gathered on al-Rashid Street, where aid trucks carrying flour were apparently on their way. Tel Aviv Tribune verified footage showing the bodies of dozens of killed and injured Palestinians being transported in trucks as no ambulances could reach the area.
“We went to get flour. The Israeli army shot at us. There are many martyrs on the ground and for now we are removing them. There is no first aid,” said a witness.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s Ismail al-Ghoul reported that after opening fire, Israeli tanks advanced and crushed many dead and wounded bodies. “It is a massacre, which adds to the famine that threatens the citizens of Gaza,” he said.
The dead and injured were transported to four medical centers: al-Shifa, Kamal Adwan, Ahli and Jordanian hospitals. Ambulances could not reach the area because the roads had been “totally destroyed”, al-Ghoul said.
“The numbers will increase. Hospitals are no longer able to accommodate the large number of patients because they lack fuel, let alone medicine. Hospitals are also running out of blood.”
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 when the 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.
‘Beyond Words’
A Palestinian told Quds News Network that the military attack was a “crime.”
“I’ve been waiting since yesterday. Around 4:30 this morning, trucks started arriving. Once we approached the aid trucks, Israeli tanks and fighter jets started shooting at us, as if it were a trap.
“To the Arab States, I say: if you want to kill us, why are you sending humanitarian aid? If this continues, we don’t want any aid delivered at all. Every convoy that arrives means another massacre.
Jadallah al-Shafei, head of the nursing department at al-Shifa Hospital, said “the situation is beyond words,” adding that “the hospital was flooded with dozens of corpses and hundreds of injured people.”
“The majority of victims suffered gunshots and shrapnel to the head and upper body. They were hit by direct artillery fire, drone missiles and gunfire,” he told Tel Aviv Tribune.
Systematic attacks
This mass shooting is the latest example of systematic attacks on hungry people waiting for leftover food. Over the past few days, Palestinians gathered in large groups waiting for aid trucks on Salah al-Din Street near Gaza City have come under fire from Israeli forces, said Hani Mahmoud of Tel Aviv Tribune, reporting from Rafah, in the south of the enclave.
Recently, a truck that was supposed to deliver aid to Gaza residents tragically turned into a truck carrying the injured and killed, he added.
With humanitarian agencies unable to deliver supplies to northern Gaza since January 23, many are undertaking a long journey south on foot.
Famine
On Wednesday, 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, were at risk of starvation, and one in six children was less than 3 years old. two of them were considered acutely malnourished.
Almost all families #Gaza needs food aid to survive.
Yesterday, the deputy head of the WFP @CarlSkau warned the Security Council of imminent famine in northern Gaza unless conditions change.
🔗Read his full remarks: pic.twitter.com/ZhFUyNIQv7
– World Food Program (@WFP) February 28, 2024
“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,” he 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,” Skau said.
Aid agencies say Israel has delayed deliveries. Israel denies this accusation. She submitted a report to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the measures taken to avoid suffering in the besieged enclave. Rights groups say Israel acted in violation of the ICJ’s order issued in January.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, said on social media on Sunday that calls to allow food distribution to Gaza amid ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hamas were rejected or “fell on deaf ears.”
Warning of an “impending famine”, the UN official said the situation was becoming a “man-made disaster”.
Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following an attack by Hamas on October 7. More than 30,000 people are believed to have been killed so far, most of them women and children.