The deaths of at least 110 Palestinians while distributing aid in the Gaza Strip have sparked severe international criticism of Israel and been accompanied by calls for an immediate ceasefire. French President Emmanuel Macron spoke of targeted shots at Palestinian civilians, Turkey and Qatar called the events “a massacre”, and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell spoke of “another bloodbath” in Gaza. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called for complete investigation and a humanitarian ceasefire, and the UN and the USA also demanded such an investigation from Israel.
It is now possible that the incident will put a strain on the long-running and extremely difficult talks about a six-week ceasefire and the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners: it could even lead to the negotiations being broken off. The fact that the bloody incident occurred a few days before the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan is likely to further aggravate the mood in the embattled Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank and play into the hands of the Islamist Hamas.
The fact is: the demand for an independent investigation is difficult to fulfill in an ongoing war. Viewed soberly, the incident early on Thursday morning is difficult for outsiders to judge. A convoy of 30 trucks carrying food had driven from the Egyptian border into the Gaza Strip. In the north of the coastal strip, which is largely destroyed, the convoy was surrounded by hundreds of Palestinians who wanted to receive aid.
Palestinians walk down a street as humanitarian aid is dropped in Gaza City March 1.
(Photo: AFP)
It is unclear why and especially when the Israeli soldiers fired. While Palestinian representatives and Hamas speak of a massacre by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), spokesmen for the government in Jerusalem and the IDF itself portray the events as the result of mass panic. Soldiers standing nearby securing the convoy while distributing food should have fired in self-defense. According to the Israeli account, most of the dead are victims of a kind of stampede: the truck drivers, fearing for their lives, ran over the people who were rushing against the vehicles and climbing into the loading areas. According to the IDF, the soldiers only fired when the crowd began to move towards them. They only aimed at the legs.
The Palestinian narrative completely contradicts this. The mass panic during the food distribution was caused by the Israeli soldiers. The truck drivers drove off in fear after the first shots and ran over people. Palestinian doctors and nurses told media that many of the victims had gunshot wounds. Some had headshots. The Islamist Hamas spoke of an IDF massacre and threatened to break off talks on exchanging Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
This is how claim stands against claim: There are few meaningful pictures of the incidents at dawn. A drone video released by Israel’s government shows hundreds of people moving wildly around the trucks and then rushing away. It is not clear whether and when and why and by whom the shots are fired. Apparently the video has been edited and shortened. It is also unclear whether there was a single incident or a chain of incidents. The Israeli one Jerusalem Post reported three events: Once in the mass panic when the convoy arrived, people rushing were run over. The trucks were later shot at by armed looters and there were more deaths. Finally, the crowd ran towards an IDF unit standing nearby. The soldiers fired warning shots and then aimed at people’s legs. Around ten people were killed.
Other Israeli media also portray the events as chaotic and unintentional. The newspaper critical of the government Haaretz But analyzes that the incident shows how Israel is wasting its chance of victory in the Gaza war. In the north, where the army had driven out the Hamas rulers, anarchic conditions prevailed that the IDF could not get under control. In the south, life is a little more regulated because Hamas still holds some of the power there. Hamas is now to be dismantled there too: “But without this organization the chaos will become even greater,” writes the liberal newspaper. The more chaotic the conditions become, the more severe the international protests become. This could ultimately force Israel to call off the war. This would mean losing the victory over Hamas.