Gaza aid delivery deaths draw global condemnation
Paris, France — Israeli troops in the northern Gaza Strip opened fire on Palestinians scrambling for food aid on Thursday, in a chaotic incident that the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said killed more than 100 people.
There were conflicting reports about how the predawn incident unfolded.
The Israeli military said a "stampede" occurred when thousands of Gazans surrounded a convoy of 38 aid trucks, leading to dozens of deaths and injuries, including some people being run over.
An Israeli source said troops had opened fire on the crowd, believing it "posed a threat".
The Gaza health ministry condemned the "massacre" in Gaza City, saying 112 people were killed and more than 750 wounded.
Reactions to the deaths have poured in from around the world.
US 'pressing for answers'
US President Joe Biden said the incident would complicate delicate ceasefire negotiations in the almost five-month-old war, with the White House calling the deaths "tremendously alarming".
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the United States was "urgently seeking additional information on exactly what took place".
Washington will be monitoring an upcoming investigation closely and "pressing for answers", he said.
France says fire 'unjustifiable'
France's foreign ministry said "the fire by Israeli soldiers against civilians trying to access food is unjustifiable".
The "tragic event" came as an "increasing and unbearable number of Palestinian civilians" were suffering from hunger and disease, it added, saying Israel must abide by international law and protect aid deliveries to civilians.
Writing on the social media platform X that Palestinian "civilians have been targeted by Israeli soldiers", French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his "strongest condemnation" of the killings.
Turkey condemns 'crime against humanity'
Turkey accused Israel of committing "another crime against humanity" and condemning Gazans to "famine" as civilians scavenge for dwindling supplies of food.
"The fact that Israel... this time targets innocent civilians in a queue for humanitarian aid, is evidence that (Israel) aims consciously and collectively to destroy the Palestinian people", the Turkish foreign ministry said.
Colombia scraps Israel arms purchases
Colombia's President Gustavo Petro denounced what he called a "genocide" of the Palestinian people and suspended purchases of weapons from Israel, a key supplier of his country's security forces.
"Asking for food, more than 100 Palestinians were killed by (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu. This is called genocide and recalls the Holocaust," Petro wrote on X.
"The world must block Netanyahu."
Spain condemns 'unacceptable' incident
"The unacceptable nature of what happened in Gaza, with dozens of Palestinian civilians dead as they were waiting for food, underlines the urgency of a ceasefire," Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares wrote on X.