The Israeli military has claimed that most of those killed last week as crowds gathered near an aid convoy in Gaza died in a stampede, contrary to reports from health authorities that many victims were hit by gunfire be.
Officials at the Hamas-run Health Ministry say at least 100 people were killed in last Thursday's disaster, most of them shot by Israeli troops, with some putting the number of dead and wounded at up to 1,000.
Israeli officials have denied the claims and the death toll but have not provided their own estimates. They admitted that “several people” were hit as troops fired on people after the clash.
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces said it had “completed an initial review” and that civilians were “trampled to death and injured as they rushed toward the aid convoy,” adding that “the IDF did not carry out an attack on it.” .
Pressure on Israel has increased over the incident. EU leaders said they were “shocked” and “deeply disturbed” by the deaths, and several countries backed a UN call for an investigation.
According to Palestinian health authorities, at least 100 people were killed in the disaster last Thursday. Pictured: Aerial images released by the IDF purporting to show the site of the alleged massacre
Palestinians receive medical care at Kamal Edwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, on February 29, 2024
Al Jazeera published videos purporting to show the aftermath of the alleged shooting. In one, people appear to be running away and taking cover, while in another, injured civilians are being carried away
IDF officials said the convoy of 30 aid trucks, which drove into northern Gaza before dawn, was met by huge crowds trying to grab the aid they were carrying.
The stampede left dozens of people dead and some were run over by the trucks as the drivers tried to escape, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the top military spokesman, said after the deaths.
Israeli troops guarding the area on al-Rashid Street, a coastal road southwest of Gaza City, fired warning shots at the crowd because they felt threatened, he added.
“We did not shoot at those seeking help.” Contrary to the allegations, we did not open fire on an aid convoy, neither from the air nor from land. “We have secured it so that it can reach the northern Gaza Strip,” he said.
Hagari today announced the results of the IDF's preliminary investigation into the incident, repeating earlier Israeli statements that most of those killed had been trampled as crowds rushed toward the aid trucks.
In addition, “multiple individuals” were hit when troops fired at people who subsequently approached them in a manner that suggested an imminent threat.
He added that Israel has also launched a more thorough investigation into the incident, which will be handled by “an independent, professional and expert panel” that will report its findings in the coming days.
Muatasem Salah, a member of the emergency committee of Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, said the incident left more than 1,000 dead and injured and dismissed the findings of the Israeli investigation.
He said the Israeli narrative was contradicted by machine gun injuries.
“The wounded and martyrs are the result of being shot with large-caliber bullets,” he said.
“Any attempt to claim that people were martyred by overcrowding or being run over is false.”
“The wounded and martyrs are the result of being shot with large-caliber bullets,” he said.
Many of Israel's closest allies, including the United States, called for an investigation into the incident.
U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters that the U.S. is “urgently seeking additional information about exactly what happened.”
Palestinians carry the bodies of those killed in the attack from the mortuary of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital to the funeral in Deir al-Balah, Gaza
Injured Palestinians received medical treatment at Al-Shifa Hospital on Thursday
Palestinians receive medical care at Kamal Edwan Hospital in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on February 29 after Israeli soldiers allegedly opened fire on Gaza residents
Washington will closely monitor an upcoming investigation and “push for answers,” he said.
Meanwhile, European Council President Charles Michel wrote on
“An independent investigation should be launched immediately and those responsible should be held accountable,” he said.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said she was “deeply disturbed by the images from Gaza,” adding that “every effort must be made to investigate what happened.”
As the diplomatic fallout widened, the military said it had launched a more thorough investigation into the incident, which would be handled by “an independent, professional and expert panel” that would report its findings in the coming days.
Hagari's comments suggested that some of the dead were killed by Israeli fire after soldiers fired initial warning shots, but he gave no details or numbers.
“Following the warning shots fired to disperse the stampede and after our forces began to withdraw, several looters approached our forces and posed an immediate threat to them.” “The initial review indicates that soldiers responded to several people,” he said.
According to Fares Afana, head of emergency services at Kamal Adwan Hospital, paramedics who arrived at the scene on Thursday found “dozens or hundreds” lying on the ground.
An image released by the IDF purporting to show the scene. “At some point the trucks were overwhelmed and the people driving the trucks, who were civilian drivers from Gaza, plowed into the crowd and ultimately killed, as far as I know, dozens of people,” the Israeli government spokesman said. Avi Hyman, told reporters
Aerial images released by the IDF are said to show the scene as Palestinians attempted to collect food from aid trucks in Gaza
He said there were not enough ambulances to collect all the dead and wounded and some were being taken to hospital by donkey cart.
Dr. Mohammed Salha, acting director of Al-Awda Hospital, said the facility had admitted 161 wounded patients, most of whom appeared to have been shot.
He said the hospital can only perform essential operations because it is running out of fuel for emergency generators.
Kamel Abu Nahel, who was being treated for a gunshot wound at Shifa Hospital, said he and others went to the distribution point in the middle of the night because they heard food was being delivered there.
He claimed Israeli troops opened fire on the crowd as people pulled boxes of flour and canned goods from trucks, causing them to scatter and some to hide under cars.
After the shooting stopped, people went back to the trucks and the soldiers opened fire again. He was shot in the leg and fell over, then a truck ran over his leg as it sped away, he said.
Alaa Abu Daiya, a witness to the violence, said Israeli troops opened fire and a tank fired a grenade.
Palestinians run towards parachutes attached to food packages dropped by US planes
The tragedy has highlighted the severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the increasingly chaotic conditions in distributing the small amount of aid reaching the enclave.
International aid organizations warn that hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza are at risk of starvation.
While Israel denies restricting humanitarian aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip, no humanitarian group has been able to provide aid since January 23, the World Food Program warned.
“If nothing changes, there is a risk of famine in the north of the Gaza Strip,” WFP Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau told the UN Security Council today, while his UN Humanitarian Office OCHA colleague Ramesh Rajasingham told a “ “almost inevitable” widespread famine.
At least 15 children have died of malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza's Kamal Adwan Hospital in recent days, the Gaza Health Ministry said in a statement.
“We fear for the lives of six (other) children who are suffering from malnutrition and diarrhea in the hospital's intensive care unit because the power generator and oxygen are no longer available and medical capacity is inadequate,” Ashraf Al-Qidra testified Gaza said a health ministry spokesman.
People cry as they mourn while receiving the bodies of victims of an Israeli attack March 2
Late last month, Rajasingham said “at least 576,000 people in Gaza – a quarter of the population” were “one step away from famine, with one in six children under the age of two suffering from acute malnutrition in northern Gaza.” Waste'.
Almost five months have passed since Israeli troops launched their invasion following the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7.
The attack, which killed around 1,200 Israelis and foreigners, was the deadliest incident in a single day in Israel's 75-year history. Israel responded with a relentless onslaught that Palestinians say has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians so far.