More than a hundred people die while distributing humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip
The United States voted against a U.N. Security Council statement that would hold Israel responsible for the deaths of Palestinians while distributing food and humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.
The case occurred on Thursday (29). According to the Hamascontrolled Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, more than 100 people were killed while waiting for help.
The group also accused Israel of opening fire on Palestinians there. The Israeli armed forces, on the other hand, only said that there was “pushing and running,” with deaths and injuries.
The UN Security Council convened an emergency meeting to address the issue. The meeting took place behind closed doors. According to the Associated Press, Arab countries tried to drum up support for a statement blaming Israeli forces for the deaths.
After the meeting ended, Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour stated that 14 of the 15 Council members supported the statement presented by Algeria. The only country that did not agree was the United States.
Because the United States is a permanent member of the Council, the United States' no vote constitutes a veto of the declaration, even if all other countries agree with the issue being discussed.
The deputy US ambassador to the United Nations, Robert Wood, justified the US denial by saying that he did not have “all the facts” about the case. He also said there were conflicting reports about what happened, including the “circumstances in which people died.”
Wood said diplomats are working to find language “that everyone can agree on.”
Guterres wants an independent investigation
1 of 1 António Guterres during a speech at the United Nations on October 25, 2023 Photo: UN via Portal António Guterres during a speech at the United Nations on October 25, 2023 Photo: UN via Portal
UN SecretaryGeneral António Guterres said on Thursday that deaths during the distribution of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip require an independent and effective investigation.
Guterres expressed shock at the case, saying that the deepening geopolitical divisions “have turned the veto into an effective tool to paralyze the work of the Security Council.”
“I firmly believe that we need a humanitarian ceasefire and the unconditional and immediate release of hostages and that we should have a Security Council capable of achieving these goals,” he said.
“We went to get food and flour and they started shooting at us,” Palestinian said
The Hamas government accused Israeli soldiers mediating the distribution of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip of opening fire on Palestinians on Thursday morning.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, an Israeli government official told Portal that Israeli troops fired several times because the soldiers allegedly felt threatened.
The American newspaper The New York Times published a similar report, also without revealing the identity of the Israeli official. The Associated Press news agency claims, based on witness statements, that Israeli soldiers fired.
Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said dozens of people had died in trampling and fighting to get supplies from trucks.
In a second moment, Hagari said, the tanks acting as armed escorts for the trucks fired warning shots to disperse the crowd and moved away as the situation worsened. “There was no attack by Israeli forces on the convoy,” he said.
Hagari went on to say that the Israeli military was on the ground “conducting a humanitarian operation to secure the humanitarian corridor so that relief supplies reach the distribution site.”