RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli troops fired on a large crowd of Palestinians as they went to pick up food from an aid convoy in Gaza City on Thursday, witnesses said. Health officials said more than 100 people were killed, bringing the death toll since the Israel-Hamas war began to over 30,000.
Israeli officials admitted that troops opened fire after the crowd approached in a threatening manner. The officials insisted on anonymity to provide details of the incident after the military said in a statement that “dozens were killed and injured as a result of being pushed, trampled and run over by the trucks.”
US President Joe Biden said the United States was still trying to figure out what happened in Gaza City. Asked whether the loss of life would complicate efforts to reach a ceasefire, he said: “I know that.”
Gaza City and surrounding areas in the north of the enclave were the first targets of Israel's air, sea and ground offensive launched in response to the Hamas attack on October 7.
While many Palestinians fled Israel's invasion of the north, several hundred thousand are believed to remain in the area, which has suffered widespread devastation and been largely isolated during the conflict. Trucks carrying food reached northern Gaza this week, the first major aid shipment to the region in a month, officials said Wednesday.
Aid groups say it has become almost impossible to provide humanitarian assistance in most parts of the Gaza Strip due to difficulties in coordinating with the Israeli military, ongoing hostilities and a breakdown in public order, with crowds of desperate people overwhelming aid convoys. According to the UN, a quarter of the 2.3 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are at risk of starvation; Around 80% have fled their homeland.
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. “We have been eating animal food for two months,” he said.
He said 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.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan accused Israel of targeting civilians in the incident. In separate statements, they called for more safe passage for humanitarian aid and called on the international community to take decisive action to pressure Israel to abide by international law and reach an agreement on an immediate ceasefire.
Alaa Abu Daiya, a witness to the violence, said Israeli troops opened fire and also that a tank fired a grenade.
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. He said there were not enough ambulances to collect all the dead and wounded and some were being taken to hospitals on donkey carts.
Another man in the crowd – who gave only his first name, Ahmad, as he was being treated at a hospital for gunshot wounds to his arm and leg – said he waited two hours until someone with a horse-drawn cart could seat him to Shifa.
Dr. Mohammed Salha, the acting director of Al-Awda Hospital, said the facility had received 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.
In addition to at least 112 people killed, around 760 were injured, said Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra. The Ministry of Health described it as a “massacre”.
Separately, the Health Ministry said the number of Palestinian war deaths rose to 30,035 and another 70,457 were injured. The figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but it is said that around two thirds of those killed were women and children.
The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government in Gaza, keeps detailed records of victims. His figures from previous wars are broadly consistent with those of the UN, independent experts and even Israel itself.
The Hamas attack on southern Israel that sparked the war left 1,200 people dead, mostly civilians, and the militants took around 250 hostages. Hamas and other militants are still holding around 100 hostages and the remains of about 30 more after releasing most of the other prisoners as part of a ceasefire in November.
Violence has also increased sharply in the West Bank since October 7th. According to the Israeli military, an attacker shot two Israelis at a gas station in the settlement of Eli on Thursday. The military said the attacker was killed.
Growing concerns about hunger in the Gaza Strip have increased international calls for another ceasefire, and the United States, Egypt and Qatar are working to reach an agreement between Israel and Hamas on a pause in fighting and the release of some hostages.
The mediators hope to reach an agreement before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan around March 10th. But so far, Israel and Hamas are far apart in public opinion when it comes to their demands.
In a statement condemning Thursday's attack, Hamas said it would not allow the negotiations to “serve as a cover for the enemy to continue its crimes.”
Meanwhile, U.N. officials have warned of more mass casualties if Israel follows through on its promises and attacks the southernmost city of Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's 2.3 million residents have sought refuge. They also say a Rafah offensive could decimate remaining aid operations.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are estimated to remain in northern Gaza despite Israel's order to evacuate the area in October, and many have had to limit themselves to eating animal feed to survive. According to the United Nations, one in six children under the age of two in the north suffers from acute malnutrition and wasting.
COGAT, the Israeli military agency responsible for Palestinian civil affairs, said around 50 aid trucks entered northern Gaza this week. It was unclear who provided the aid. Some countries have now resorted to airdrops in recent days.
The World Food Program announced earlier this month that it was suspending deliveries to the north due to growing chaos after desperate Palestinians emptied a convoy en route.
Since the start of the assault on Gaza following the Hamas attack on October 7, Israel has blocked the entry of food, water, medicine and other aid, with the exception of a handful of aid shipments arriving from Egypt at the Rafah border crossing and the Israeli border crossing at Kerem Shalom in reach the south. Despite international calls for more aid, the number of supply trucks is far fewer than the 500 that arrived daily before the war.
COGAT said on Wednesday that Israel does not set any caps on the amount of aid provided. Israel blames U.N. agencies for the bottleneck and says hundreds of trucks are waiting for aid workers to pick them up on the Palestinian side of Kerem Shalom.
UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric responded on Wednesday that large trucks heading to Gaza had to be unloaded and reloaded onto smaller ones. But there are not enough of them and there is a lack of security for the distribution of aid in Gaza.
Hamas-led police in Gaza stopped protecting convoys after Israeli attacks on them near the border crossing.
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Chehayeb reported from Beirut and Lidman from Tel Aviv, Israel.
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