A rush for aid supplies has escalated in Gaza City. Media reports about shots. The health authority in Gaza reports more than 100 deaths. Much is still unclear and there are different information about the incident.
Many people have died in chaos and gunfire around an aid convoy in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army said many residents crowded around arriving trucks carrying relief supplies in order to loot them. According to Israeli sources, at least 24 people were killed by jostling and trampling. There are also numerous injuries. The information cannot currently be independently verified.
Conflict parties as a source
In the current situation, information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by the Palestinian and Israeli conflict parties cannot be directly verified by an independent body.
The Hamas-controlled health authority gives much higher figures. It reported 104 dead and 760 injured. The agency accused Israel’s army of attacking the group in Gaza City as they waited for aid. This information cannot currently be verified.
Israel: “It’s a tragedy”
In an initial statement, the Israeli government spoke of a tragedy. Initial indications suggest that the deaths were caused by delivery drivers driving into a crowd. “At some point the trucks were overwhelmed,” Avi Hyman told Reuters.
The truck drivers were civilian drivers from Gaza. The trucks drove into the crowd and killed “dozens of people, as far as I know,” Hyman said. “It’s obviously a tragedy, but we’re not quite sure of the details yet.”
The army published a video on Platform X that is supposed to show the onslaught.
Media reports of gunshots
Several Israeli media outlets reported, citing army sources, that some of the crowd approached the soldiers who were coordinating the import of the trucks. This put the soldiers at risk, the articles said. The military therefore opened fire on the group.
The Times of Israel reported that around 30 trucks arrived on the coast in the city of Gaza early this morning. Thousands of Palestinians ran towards the vans. The newspaper later wrote that around ten people were hit by shots fired by Israeli soldiers. This is the result of an initial investigation by the military.
In addition, several Israeli media outlets that refer to the army reported that armed Palestinians fired on some of the trucks. The military initially fired warning shots into the air and fired at the legs of those who approached the soldiers anyway.
Eyewitnesses told the AP news agency that there were shots as people picked up flour and cans from trucks. According to these reports, Israeli soldiers are said to have fired.
Eyewitness reports several bodies
A resident told the dpa news agency that people had wanted to receive trucks with relief goods from the south of the coastal area early in the morning in order to get flour and other food. It was still dark. Suddenly shots were said to have been fired. According to the 27-year-old eyewitness, grenades were also said to have been fired. The resident initially fled, but returned at daybreak, he reported.
When he returned, the Palestinian saw several corpses on the ground. Residents transported injured people to a hospital on donkey carts, among other things. This information cannot be independently verified either.
Catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza
UN emergency relief coordinator Martin Griffiths expressed his horror. “Even after almost five months of brutal hostilities, Gaza can still shock us,” he wrote on the X (formerly Twitter) platform. “Life is disappearing from the Gaza Strip at an alarming rate.”
Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement: “It is a heinous crime to attack peaceful civilians who are rushing to receive their share of humanitarian aid.” This is “a blatant violation of international law and international humanitarian law and also shows disregard for the sanctity of human life.”
Hamas spoke of a “heinous massacre” by Israel, in which the US government was also partly to blame. The terrorist organization called on people around the world to demonstrate.
According to aid organizations, the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is catastrophic. According to UN figures, the amount of aid delivered in February was halved compared to the previous month. United Nations officials warn that thousands of civilians are starving to death. There have already been reports of violent scuffles over aid supplies.