Israeli forces opened fire as a crowd gathered near a convoy of trucks carrying urgently needed aid to Gaza City on Thursday. According to Gaza health authorities and the Israeli military, a chaotic scenario ensued in which scores of people were killed and injured.
The details of what happened were unclear, as officials from both sides gave completely different statements. Gaza's Health Ministry said in a statement that more than 100 people were killed and more than 700 injured in a “massacre.” Israeli military officials said most of the casualties resulted from a stampede of Gazans crowding around aid trucks and that soldiers fired only after a crowd of people approached them one at a time in a threatening manner.
Around 100 people with gunshot wounds were taken to Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza City, according to director Husam Abu Safiya, while injured people were taken to other hospitals in the north. Mr Abu Safiya said the hospital also received 12 bodies of people killed by gunfire.
About 30 trucks carrying humanitarian aid drove from the Kerem Shalom border crossing between southern Israel and Gaza along the coastal road to the north of the Gaza Strip, according to an Israeli military official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity.
As the trucks approached Gaza City early Thursday morning, thousands of people surrounded the trucks to grab supplies, leading to a crush that left dozens injured and killed and in some cases run over by aid trucks trying to free themselves. it says officially.
The official said that a few hundred meters further south – at the end of the convoy – dozens of civilians who had crowded into the truck there then approached Israeli troops and a tank securing the road.
Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a televised news conference that the soldiers opened fire “only in the face of danger when the mob moved in a way that put them in danger.”
“Despite the allegations, we did not shoot at those seeking help,” he said. “We did not fire on the humanitarian convoy from the air or from the land. We have secured it so that it can reach the northern Gaza Strip.”
Admiral Hagari did not elaborate on whether people were killed or injured in the shooting and declined to give an exact timeline, other than to say the trucks were approaching Gaza City around 4:45 a.m
Neither the Palestinian nor the Israeli account could be confirmed. A witness at the scene, doctor Yehia Al Masri, said he saw dozens of dead and injured people with gunshot wounds, as well as bodies in the street who appeared to have died in a stampede or been hit by aid trucks.
People in the Gaza Strip, particularly in the north of the territory, are increasingly desperate for food. The United Nations and other aid agencies are struggling to deliver aid during Israel's nearly five-month military offensive, as law and order collapses and Israel imposes supply restrictions.
The Israeli military released and edited drone video that showed hundreds of people crowded around trucks along Al-Rashid Street in southwest Gaza City. At one point in the footage, people start running, some crawling behind walls and appearing to take cover.
After a cut in the video, at least a dozen bodies can be seen on the ground; It is not clear whether the people are injured or dead. During the panic, some people appear to have been hit by the relief trucks. Two Israeli military vehicles can also be seen at the scene.
Satellite image from Planet Labs taken on February 14th.
By Lazaro Gamio and Haley Willis
It was unclear who was overseeing the convoy on Thursday. Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the main U.N. aid group serving the Palestinians, said on social media that neither its agency, UNRWA, nor other UN bodies “were involved in this distribution.”
Palestinian leaders, Arab officials and international aid groups condemned the bloodshed, and a Hamas official warned that the killings could derail ceasefire talks.
President Biden said he was still learning details about the incident but believed the deaths could jeopardize diplomatic talks. “I know it will be,” he told reporters.
Olivia Dalton, a White House spokeswoman, called the deaths “deeply tragic” and said that “too many civilians have lost their lives as a result of military operations in Gaza.” She added: “We believe this recent event needs to be thoroughly investigated.”
Gaza has been almost entirely under siege since the war began on October 7 with an attack on Israel led by Hamas, the Palestinian armed group that had long controlled Gaza. Aid became crucial for Gaza's more than two million residents when Israel began bombing and then invaded the area.
The United Nations recently warned that at least a quarter of Gaza's population was “one step away from famine,” and Gaza's health ministry said Wednesday that at least six children had died of dehydration and malnutrition in the territory.
A body of a Palestinian in Gaza City on Thursday after Israeli soldiers opened fire near a convoy of aid trucks, killing and wounding dozens. Source: Agence France-Presse – Getty Images
The ministry said the death toll at the convoy's site was expected to rise on Thursday as wounded Palestinians arrived at Al-Shifa Hospital, where medical staff were “unable to cope with the scale and scope” due to a lack of medical care to deal with the type of injuries.” Staff.
The World Food Program announced last week that it had suspended food deliveries to the isolated northern Gaza Strip because of the challenges of safely delivering aid there. Mr. Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, said on Sunday that the agency was last able to deliver aid to the northern Gaza Strip more than a month ago.
According to residents and aid workers, lawlessness prevails in many parts of the northern and southern Gaza Strip and no authority has emerged to ensure public order following Israel's withdrawal of Hamas troops from these areas. Israeli leaders have said they do not want to manage civilian life in Gaza, although they intend to maintain security control there indefinitely.
In recent weeks, large numbers of desperate Gazans have repeatedly attacked aid convoys and taken their contents, occasionally armed.
The Israeli military has said it is working to ensure humanitarian convoys can reach the many people in the Gaza Strip who rely on them. Some Gaza police are now refusing to protect convoys because they fear they will be attacked by Israeli soldiers, Western officials say.
In late January, a strike hit a crowd waiting for aid trucks in Gaza City, killing several people and injuring scores more, Gaza health authorities said.
Haley Willis, Aric Toler and Robin Stein contributed reporting.
— Hiba Yazbek and Aaron Boxerman