At least 112 Palestinians were killed and more than 750 injured after Israeli troops opened fire on hundreds of people waiting for food aid southwest of Gaza City.
This is what we know:
What happened and when?
The incident unfolded around 04:30 local time (02:30 GMT) on Thursday, as people gathered on Harun al-Rashid Street in Gaza, where aid trucks carrying flour were believed to be en route. .
A convoy of aid trucks passed through the checkpoint heading north, as people began to gather in large groups. According to the Israeli military, a convoy of 31 trucks entered Gaza, but almost 20 entered the north on Monday and Tuesday.
As people gathered in large groups waiting for much-needed help, they were attacked with all kinds of military equipment, Al Jazeera's Hani Mahmoud reported from Rafah. According to an Associated Press report, people removed boxes of flour and canned goods from the trucks.
After the first round of shooting stopped, the people returned to the trucks, only for the soldiers to open fire once again.
“After opening fire, the Israeli tanks advanced and ran over many of the dead bodies and wounded,” said Al Jazeera's Ismail al-Ghoul, reporting from the scene.
Where did the shooting take place?
Palestinian authorities said the incident took place on al-Rashid Street at the Nabulsi roundabout on the southwest side of Gaza City.
This occurs in northern Gaza, where food deliveries have been scarce. The first deliveries in more than a month arrived this week.
This came a day after Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the World Food Program (WFP), told the United Nations Security Council that more than 500,000, or one in four people, were at risk of famine, and that one in six children was below the poverty line. Two-year-old children are considered acutely malnourished.
How do Palestinian witnesses describe what happened?
Palestinians in Gaza said Israeli forces carried out a massacre by shooting into a crowd of people waiting to collect desperately needed food aid.
According to Al Jazeera's Mahmoud, the more he talked to people, “the clearer it became that they felt it was a trap, an ambush.”
“We had come here to get some help. I've been waiting since yesterday at noon. Around 4:30 in the morning, the trucks began to arrive. The Israelis just randomly opened fire on us as if it were a trap. Once we approached the aid trucks, Israeli tanks and fighter jets started shooting at us,” a witness at the scene told Al Jazeera.
Witnesses said the stampede occurred as a result of Israeli gunfire and that the trucks also ran over the wounded, increasing the death toll. Al Jazeera has verified that donkey carts were used to take people to hospital because ambulances could not reach the area.
“We were going to bring flour… then Israeli snipers shot us,” another person in the area told Al Jazeera. “They shot me in the leg. “I can’t get up,” she added.
What did Israel say?
The Israeli military said the trucks were managed by private contractors as part of an aid operation supervised by them over the past four nights.
But the Israeli version of events changed throughout the day.
Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem, said the Israeli military “initially tried to blame the crowd,” saying dozens were injured as a result of being crushed and trampled in a stampede when the troops arrived. aid trucks.
“And then after some pushing and shoving, the Israelis continued to say that their troops felt threatened, that hundreds of troops approached their troops in a way that posed a threat to them, so they responded by opening fire,” Smith added. But they did not explain how those people posed a threat.
Witnesses insisted that the stampede occurred only after Israeli troops began shooting at people searching for food.
What is the current aid situation in Gaza?
Since the war began, aid agencies say Israel has been delaying deliveries. Israel denies the accusation.
“The risk of famine is fueled by the inability to bring critical food supplies to Gaza in sufficient quantities and the almost impossible operational conditions faced by our personnel on the ground,” Skau said.
He described dangerous conditions for WFP trucks trying to bring food north earlier this month. “There were delays at checkpoints; they faced gunshots and other types of violence; food was looted along the way; and at their destination, they were overwhelmed by desperately hungry people,” he added.
A month ago, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague said that Israel must do everything possible to prevent genocidal acts in the territory.
But according to human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, Israel “failed to take even minimal measures to comply.”
The number of trucks has decreased by 40 percent since the ICJ ruling, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
What have been the reactions?
The office of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned what it described as a “horrific massacre carried out by the Israeli occupation army.”
UN chief Antonio Guterres also condemned the incident.
“I condemn Thursday's incident in Gaza in which more than 100 people were reportedly killed or injured while seeking life-saving help,” he said. “Desperate civilians in Gaza need urgent help, including those in the north, where the UN has been unable to deliver aid in more than a week.”
I condemn Thursday's incident in Gaza in which more than 100 people were reportedly killed or injured while seeking life-saving help.
Gaza's desperate civilians need urgent help, including those in the north, where @UNITED NATIONS has not been able to deliver aid for more than a week.
-António Guterres (@antonioguterres) March 1, 2024
The US government said it was seeking answers from Israel, although it declined to directly condemn the killings.
“Too many innocent Palestinians have been killed in the course of this conflict, not just today, but over the last five months,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said at a news conference.
“We have been in contact with the Israeli Government since early this morning and understand that an investigation is underway. “We will follow that investigation closely and press for answers,” Miller added.
Jordan's Foreign Ministry also condemned the attack.
“We condemn the brutal attack by the Israeli occupation forces against the gathering of Palestinians waiting for help at the Nabulsi roundabout near Al-Rashid Street in Gaza,” he said in a statement.
Saudi Arabia called on the international community to “take a firm stance compelling Israel to respect international humanitarian law.”
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said his government was suspending arms purchases from Israel.
Begging for food, more than 100 Palestinians were killed by Netanyahu. This is called genocide and is reminiscent of the Hocaust even if the world powers do not like to recognize it.
The world must block Netanyahu. Colombia suspends all purchases of weapons from Israel.
—Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) February 29, 2024
“More than 100 Palestinians were killed by Netanyahu begging for food,” Petro said. “This is called genocide and is reminiscent of the Holocaust, even if world powers do not like to recognize it. The world must block Netanyahu. “Colombia suspends all arms purchases from Israel,” he said in X.
In France, President Emmanuel Macron also expressed his “strongest condemnation.”
Deep outrage at images from Gaza where civilians have been attacked by Israeli soldiers.
I express my strongest condemnation of these shootings and call for truth, justice and respect for international law.
—Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) March 1, 2024
What does this mean for war?
Thursday's killing is one of the deadliest incidents in Israel's war on Gaza.
It also took place amid negotiations between Israel and Hamas that aimed to reach an agreement to stop the fighting and allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.
After the shooting, Hamas issued a statement warning that it could stop participating in the negotiations.
On Monday, US President Joe Biden sounded optimistic, saying he hoped there would be a ceasefire “next Monday.”
However, Israel and Hamas subsequently downplayed prospects for an early breakthrough in their talks, and Biden later acknowledged that a truce could take time.
According to the White House, Biden was recently in contact with the leaders of Qatar and Egypt in an effort to continue negotiations.
President Biden held calls today with Amir Al-Thani of Qatar and President Al-Sisi of Egypt about the war in Gaza, efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas, and the urgency of expanding the flow of humanitarian assistance . pic.twitter.com/aVQSqBD1gq
– The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 1, 2024
