Israel fires on Gazans rushing for food aid
Israel says scene was deadly stampede
PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES (AFP) – Israeli forces in war-torn Gaza opened fire on Palestinians scrambling for food aid in a chaotic melee on Thursday that the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory 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.
The Hamas-run health ministry condemned what it called a “massacre” in Gaza City in which 112 people were killed and more than 750 others wounded.
There were conflicting reports on what exactly unfolded in the hours before dawn.
A witness in Gaza City, declining to be named for safety reasons, said the violence began when thousands of people rushed toward aid trucks at the city’s western Nabulsi roundabout, with soldiers firing at the crowd “as people came too close” to tanks.
Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said the military had fired “a few warning shots” to try to disperse a crowd that had “ambushed” the aid trucks.
When the crowd got too big, he said the convoy tried to retreat and “the unfortunate incident resulted in dozens of Gazans killed and injured.”
US President Joe Biden said Washington was checking “two competing versions” of the incident, while a State Department spokesman said the United States had been in touch with Israel and was “pressing for answers” on what happened.
Biden spoke with Qatari and Egyptian leaders in separate phone calls, the White House said, saying he discussed both the ceasefire and the “tragic and alarming” aid incident.
The UN Security Council held a closed-door emergency meeting on the incident.
Saudi Arabia strongly condemned what it called the “targeting” of unarmed civilians, while Kuwait and the UAE also issued condemnations.
Qatar warned that Israel’s “disregard for Palestinian blood... (would) pave the way for an expanding cycle of violence.”
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his “strongest condemnation,” while Spain’s foreign minister described the events as “unacceptable.”
European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell also denounced the “carnage.”