Global censure follows Israel fire at Gaza aid site
Global condemnation flowed on Friday after Israeli forces in war-ravaged Gaza opened fire as Palestinian civilians scrambled for food aid during a chaotic incident which the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry said killed more than 100 people.
The Israeli military said a “stampede” occurred when thousands of desperate Gazans surrounded a convoy of 38 aid trucks, leading to dozens of deaths and injuries, including some who were run over by the lorries.
An Israeli source acknowledged troops had opened fire on the crowd, believing it “posed a threat”.
Gaza’s health ministry called it a “massacre” and said 112 people were killed and more than 750 others wounded.
French President Emmanuel Macron, in a post on social media platform X, expressed his “strongest condemnation of these shootings and call for truth, justice, and respect for international law”.
Iran denounced “the barbaric attack by the Zionist regime”, China said it was “shocked”, and the head of the Arab League said the “brutal” act showed “total contempt for human life”.
US President Joe Biden said Washington was checking “two competing versions” of the incident which occurred early Thursday in northern Gaza, where famine threatens after nearly five months of war between Israel and Hamas militants.
A US State Department spokesman said aerial footage of the incident made clear “just how desperate the situation on the ground is”. Washington was pushing Israel to allow in more aid, he said.
The deaths came after the World Food Programme’s deputy executive director Carl Skau told the UN Security Council on Tuesday: “If nothing changes, a famine is imminent in northern Gaza.”
Israel is threatening to send in troops against Hamas fighters in Rafah.
The war began on October 7 with a Hamas attack on southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, Israeli figures show.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed more than 30,000 people, according to the health ministry, which reported early Friday another 83 people killed in strikes overnight.
The Gaza City aid incident would complicate efforts to broker a truce, Biden said.
The White House said he spoke with Qatari and Egyptian leaders -- fellow mediators -- in separate phone calls to discuss both the ceasefire and the “tragic and alarming” incident.
Qatar warned that Israel’s “disregard for Palestinian blood... (will) pave the way for an expanding cycle of violence”.
Turkey said the incident “is evidence that (Israel) aims consciously and collectively to destroy the Palestinian people”.
Spain’s foreign minister said the “unacceptable” events underline the “urgency of a ceasefire,” while European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell expressed horror at “yet another carnage among civilians in Gaza desperate for humanitarian aid”.
Further afield, in South America, Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced the suspension of arms purchases from Israel after the “genocide” in Gaza City.