There are dramatic scenes that can be seen on the Internet. A woman cries loudly in front of a car loaded with the injured and dead. Men mourn next to lifeless bodies. The images come from the city of Gaza, in the northern part of the narrow coastal strip. According to the Palestinian Health Authority, more than 100 people were killed and over 750 injured while distributing aid there on Thursday morning. The Hamas-controlled authority accused the Israeli army of attacking and shooting at a crowd waiting for aid deliveries in Gaza City.
An Israeli insider said, according to the Reuters news agency, that soldiers shot at “several people” in the crowd who posed a threat to them. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) deny this in the Israeli media. It said the IDF did not fire on the crowd, but troops did open fire on several residents who were approaching an Israel Defense Forces checkpoint, putting the soldiers in danger. The IDF shared, among other things, on the X platform that the residents had surrounded the trucks in order to loot the aid supplies that had been delivered. “Dozens of Gazans were killed and injured as trucks pushed, trampled and ran over them.”
Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari later repeated this statement in a video statement. In other respects, however, his statements differed from those previously made by the IDF. Hagari said the IDF “coordinated” a convoy of 38 trucks loaded with aid from Egypt. The first truck set off for the Gaza Strip at 4:40 a.m. Tanks were on site “to secure the humanitarian corridor for the aid convoy.” At 4:45 a.m. a mob attacked the trucks and brought them to a standstill. Hagari said that the tanks “carefully” tried to disperse the crowd with “a few warning shots.”
“As the hundreds turned into thousands and the situation spiraled out of control, the tank commanders decided to withdraw to prevent thousands of Gazans from being harmed,” Hagari said. The tanks did not fire on the convoy. But in a separate statement in Hebrew, according to the BBC, he said the tanks had opened fire on people who appeared to pose a threat. None of the information can be independently verified.
The United Nations is calling for an investigation, a spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in New York. “There will be a time of responsibility,” added Stephane Dujarric. United Nations employees were not present at the incident, they do not know all the facts and are aware that there are different accounts. The World Security Council, the most powerful UN body, wanted to meet behind closed doors for consultations on Thursday. Guterres on Friday strongly reiterated his call for a ceasefire. He wrote to X that he condemned the incident in which numerous people were killed or injured while seeking life-saving help.
Meanwhile, the right-wing extremist Minister of National Security and Radical Settlers, Itamar Ben-Gvir, announcedthat he wants to stop delivering aid in response to the events in Gaza. The incident “proved that transferring humanitarian aid to Gaza while our hostages are being held in the Gaza Strip is not only madness,” but also endangers the soldiers.
The Reuters news agency also reportsthat medical staff were unable to cope with the extent and severity of injuries suffered by dozens of wounded people who arrived at al-Shifa Hospital. The head of the Kamal Adwan Clinic in Gaza City told Reuters by telephone that ten bodies and dozens of injured people had been admitted to his hospital alone. Hamas warned in a statement that the incident could lead to the collapse of talks on a ceasefire agreement and the release of the hostages. US President Joe Biden also said in Washington, when asked by a journalist, that the incident would make negotiations more difficult. The exact process is being checked. Biden referred to the two different representations: “I don’t have an answer yet.”
French President Emmanuel Macron became more clear. On A previously published statement from the French Foreign Ministry said: “The Israeli military’s shelling of civilians trying to obtain food is unjustifiable.”
United Nations officials warn that thousands of civilians are starving to death
According to international aid organizations, the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is catastrophic. Trucks carrying relief supplies cross the border almost every day – but there are far too few, say aid organizations. According to the UN, aid deliveries in February were even halved compared to the previous month. There are regular demonstrations at the Kerem Shalom border crossing by Israeli citizens who want to stop aid deliveries completely. They argue that this could force Hamas into a hostage deal. In addition, criminal gangs are looting aid deliveries. Since Hamas repeatedly diverts some of the aid supplies, there have been isolated protests in the Gaza Strip.
United Nations officials warn that thousands of civilians are starving to death. According to press agencies, the World Health Organization reports that two infants died of dehydration and malnutrition in the northern Gaza Strip. The WHO cited the Ministry of Health in Gaza, which is under the Hamas administration, as the source. Many children are at risk of death due to a lack of food. There have been repeated reports of violent clashes over relief supplies in recent days.
In order to help the people in the Gaza Strip, aid planes have taken off from Jordan in recent days to drop food packages over the Gaza Strip. Some of them ended up in the sea not far from the coast. Pictures and videos show how people desperately jumped into the water to pull rations ashore.
Over 30,000 people are said to have been killed in the Gaza Strip
The war in the Gaza Strip has now been going on for over five months. On October 7, Hamas terrorists attacked Israel. They murdered more than 1,200 people in the south of the country and kidnapped over 250 more as hostages in the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian health authority, more than 30,000 people are said to have been killed in counterattacks by Israeli forces since then. According to Israeli figures, more than a third of them are Hamas fighters.
At the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, once again denounced massive violations of international law in the Gaza war. About one in twenty people – children, women and men – in the Palestinian enclave are dead or injured. “This is a massacre,” said Türk on Thursday. The UN official called for an immediate ceasefire and the release of the Hamas hostages. Everyone involved must be held accountable.