Israel kills 100+ Gazans during aid delivery: What we know of the latest ‘massacre’

What happened last night?

Videos of the incident showed the chaos that went down on al-Rashid Street in Gaza City where people had gathered in the early hours of the morning to await aid trucks carrying flour. An Al Jazeera report, quoting eye-witnesses, said that as people congregated around the convoy, the Israeli military opened fire, following which army tanks ran over many dead and injured persons.

“We went to get flour. The Israeli army shot at us. There are many martyrs on the ground and until this moment we are withdrawing them. There is no first aid,” an eye-witness told Al Jazeera. 

Kamel Abu Nahel, who was injured in the melee, told the Associated Press that he, along with others, had gone to the distribution point in the middle of the night because they heard there would be a delivery of food. “We’ve been eating animal feed for two months,” he told AP.

He told the AP that people were pulling boxes of flour and canned goods off the trucks when Israeli troops opened fire, prompting people to scatter and hide under cars. Once the firing stopped, people again headed towards the trucks to collect aid, but the Israeli military opened fire again, he said. Kamel added that he fell over after he was shot in the leg, following which a truck ran over his leg as it sped off.

“The Israelis send us this aid so they can kill our children.”

Israeli forces opened fire on people who were seeking food from an aid convoy on Al-Rasheed Street in Gaza City. The UN says at least half a million people are one step away from famine in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/uXlSgeL2IB

— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) February 29, 2024

Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs termed the incident a cold-blooded “massacre” and called on the international community to urgently intervene to forge a cease-fire.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates// Condemns the massacre in the Nablsi Square in Gaza and calls for an immediate ceasefire as the sole means to protect civilians.#Gaza_under_attack#CeasefireNow#Palestine#Israeliwarcrimes pic.twitter.com/AaoEtAofMC

— State of Palestine – MFA 🇵🇸🇵🇸 (@pmofa) February 29, 2024

‘Felt endangered,’ says Israeli army 

The Israeli army, meanwhile, denied shooting at civilians. “This morning humanitarian aid trucks entered northern Gaza, residents surrounded the trucks and looted the supplies being delivered. As a result of the pushing, trampling and being run over by the trucks, dozens of Gazans were killed and injured,” it said in a statement on its official military, @IDF, on X.

The chief military spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, told the AP that huge crowds of people had tried to grab aid from a convoy of 30 trucks that were heading to northern Gaza. He said that Israeli troops had fired warning shots into the crowd because they felt endangered, and that many Palestinians were killed in the stampede and some were run over by the trucks as the drivers tried to get away.

“We recognize the suffering of the innocent people of Gaza. This is why we are seeking ways to expand our humanitarian efforts.”

Watch the full statement by IDF Spokesperson RAdm. Daniel Hagari on the incident regarding the humanitarian aid convoy the IDF facilitated. pic.twitter.com/m6Pve3Odqw

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) February 29, 2024

“We didn’t open fire on those seeking aid. Contrary to the accusations, we didn’t open fire on a humanitarian aid convoy, not from the air and not from land. We secured it so it could reach northern Gaza,” he told AP.

World leaders condemn the massacre

World leaders, including France, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan, condemned the massacre.

US President Joe Biden, who had said that he is hoping for a cease-fire soon, expressed concern that the bloodshed in Gaza will add to the difficulty in negotiations.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, “We are urgently seeking additional information on exactly what took place.” However, it blocked a UN Security Council statement that placed the blame for the attack on Israel, said media reports.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that this latest series of killings “shocked” him and that it requires an effective independent investigation.

European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said he was “horrified” by the incident. “I am horrified by news of yet another carnage among civilians in Gaza desperate for humanitarian aid,” he said in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter. “These deaths are totally unacceptable.”

I am horrified by news of yet another carnage among civilians in Gaza desperate for humanitarian aid.

These deaths are totally unacceptable.

Depriving people of food aid constitutes a serious violation of IHL.

Unhindered humanitarian access to Gaza must be granted.

— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) February 29, 2024

French President Emmanuel Macron expressed “deep indignation” and his “strongest condemnation” over the event. In a post on X, he wrote, “Deep indignation at the images coming from Gaza where civilians have been targeted by Israeli soldiers. I express my strongest condemnation of these shootings and call for truth, justice, and respect for international law.”

What next?

The killings are likely to make the delivery of aid to the besieged Gaza enclave more complicated. Israel had put an end to the delivery of food, water, medicine and other essentials to Gaza after the Hamas attack on Oct 7, and has refused to restore the aid supply to pre-war levels despite international pressure.

There is no limit to the scale of humanitarian needs for people in #Gaza
Diseases are rampant.
Food production has come to a halt.
Over 1/4 of water wells have been destroyed.
Famine is looming.
Hospitals have turned into battlefields.
1 million children face daily trauma. pic.twitter.com/ZwmNgjOo5q

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) February 28, 2024

Before the start of the war, as many as 500 supply trucks used to enter Gaza daily. Now, that has trickled down to single digits, even as lakhs of Palestinians who have been displaced from their homes suffer from acute hunger. The UN says 1 in 6 children under 2 years of age in northern Gaza suffer from acute malnutrition and wasting.

Around 50 aid trucks entered northern Gaza this week, said an AP report, quoting COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of Palestinian civilian affairs. Meanwhile, the World Food Program had said that it was stopping supply runs to northern Gaza after “desperate Palestinians emptied a convoy while it was en route,” said the report.