Gaza Strip: What is known about the dead in Gaza City

The Palestinian health authority accuses the Israeli soldiers of deliberately opening fire on the waiting crowd. More than 100 people were dead and more than 700 others were injured. This version is also supported by Palestinian journalists and the Palestinian UN Ambassador Riad Mansour. This cannot be verified independently.

The director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, Hussam Abu Safiya, said Washington Postthat twelve dead people had arrived and 175 injured people were being treated. All had gunshot wounds, most from multiple bullets. On Friday evening, UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric also said that many of the injured in Shifa Hospital in Gaza City had gunshot wounds. A United Nations team visited the clinic. More than 200 people are still being treated there. But he doesn’t know whether bodies were also examined, says Dujarric.

The Israeli army, however, says that the deaths were the result of a mass panic that broke out. Most were trampled to death or run over by the trucks. In addition, armed Palestinians fired at the convoy and looted trucks. It was only when a group of people continued to approach the Israeli soldiers in a threatening manner even after warning shots were fired that live fire was fired.

The Israeli army published on Thursday Drone footage intended to support this version. But the video is edited together, without sound, and only shows the end of the events on Harun al-Rashid Street: bodies lying on the ground and people running for their lives. What happened before cannot be seen.

The German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock demanded X complete reconnaissance from the Israeli army. “People wanted relief supplies for themselves and their families and found themselves dead. The reports from Gaza shock me,” wrote Baerbock. A humanitarian ceasefire is finally needed. French President Emmanuel Macron also called for this. “The Israeli military’s shelling of civilians trying to get food is unjustifiable,” the French Foreign Ministry said.

A US State Department spokesman said it would closely monitor the investigation and press for answers. The United States blocked a UN Security Council statement that would hold Israel responsible for the deaths. Not all the facts are available yet. The African Union, however, accused Israel of the “mass killing of Palestinians.” The Qatari Foreign Ministry also spoke of a “horrible massacre” in a statement.

Israel and Hamas have been negotiating the terms of a ceasefire for weeks, mediated by the USA, Egypt and Qatar. US President Joe Biden and Israeli media assume that the talks will now become even more complicated.

Christian Lindmeier, spokesman for the World Health Organization (WHO), describes In an interview with ZEIT ONLINE, the situation for the people in Gaza is catastrophic. Twelve of the former 36 hospitals are currently partially operational again. There is a lack of electricity, fresh water and wastewater supplies are no longer possible, and garbage is piling up. “There has been too little to eat and drink for weeks and infectious diseases are increasing due to malnutrition,” says Lindmeier. “Today we received the official figure that the tenth child died of starvation in a hospital.”

Especially the north of the Gaza Strip According to Lindmeier, it is difficult to reach because the roads lead through conflict areas. The last aid deliveries reached the people there at the end of January. Around 250,000 are said to still be in the north of the Gaza Strip.

The USA has announced that it will provide the civilian population in the Gaza Strip with aid deliveries from the air. To achieve this, we will work together with Jordan and other countries. According to US President Joe Biden, the campaign is scheduled to begin in the coming days. Germany has also signaled its willingness to take part. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also announced that humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip would be increased by a further 20 million euros.