Injured survivors of Gaza aid chaos say Israeli forces shot at them.
Palestinians in Gaza claim Israeli forces shot at them during an aid delivery, resulting in casualties. Israel disputes the account.
In Gaza on March 1st, some Palestinians injured in a delivery mishap during an aid distribution effort claimed that Israeli forces shot at them as they hurried to obtain food for their families. They described scenes of terror and chaos. The health authorities in Hamas-controlled Gaza reported that 115 people were killed in the incident on Thursday, attributing the deaths to Israeli gunfire and calling it a massacre. However, Israel disputed these figures, stating that most victims were either trampled or run over.
Despite this, an Israeli official mentioned that soldiers initially fired warning shots in the air. Subsequently, they targeted those who did not move away and were perceived as a threat. When asked about the number of people shot, the official stated that the firing was "limited." This incident highlighted the breakdown of organized aid distribution in areas of Gaza occupied by Israeli forces, with no functioning administration in place. The main U.N. agency, UNRWA, was also hindered by an inquiry into alleged ties with Hamas.
Four witnesses, speaking from Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City in a video obtained by Reuters, claimed they were fired upon by Israeli forces, with some mentioning the involvement of tanks and armed drones. Mahmoud Ahmad, who had been waiting since Wednesday evening for the convoy that arrived on Thursday morning, stated that hunger compelled him to take the risk of going to the delivery route in hopes of obtaining flour for his children.
As the aid trucks entered northern Gaza, he approached them, but a tank and a "quadcopter" drone started firing. "I was injured in my back. I was bleeding for an hour until one of my relatives came and took me to hospital," he said. "When the aid entered, the tank and quadcopter started firing at the people gathered, the people who went to get food for themselves and their children. They started shooting at them," he added.
Jihad Mohammed, who was waiting at Nabulsi roundabout on the Al-Rashid coast road, the main delivery route into northern Gaza from the south, said, "We went and waited for the trucks and then there was firing at all the people, and then I was injured." When asked if he believed Israeli forces had intentionally fired on them, he replied, "Yes, that's right. They used tanks, soldiers, aircraft... all were firing towards us."
Sami Mohammed was at the Al-Rashid road with his son, waiting for the aid convoy to arrive. "My son ran to the beach and they shot him twice... one grazed his head and the other hit his chest," he said. He mentioned that bullets and shells were fired. The boy was lying in a hospital bed with bandages on his chest and arm and a cut on his face.
Abdallah Juha said he went to try to get a sack of flour for his parents. "We are very hungry. We don't have food or anything. They fired at us... they squashed us," he said, adding that the fire came from tanks. Juha, with a bandage on his face, was injured in the head by a bullet. "My little brother cries because he wants to eat. Where should I get him food?" he asked.
The U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA reported that a U.N. team visited Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Friday to deliver medical supplies and met people injured in the incident. "By the time of the team's visit, the hospital had also received the bodies of more than 70 people who had been killed," it said.
An Israeli official stated on Thursday that there were two incidents, hundreds of meters apart. In the first, dozens were killed or injured as they attempted to take aid from the trucks and were trampled or run over. He mentioned a second, subsequent incident as the trucks moved off. Some people in the crowd approached troops, who felt threatened and opened fire, killing an unknown number in a "limited response." He dismissed the casualty toll provided by Gaza authorities but did not provide a figure himself.
In a later briefing on Thursday, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari also said dozens had been trampled to death or injured in a scuffle to take supplies off the trucks. He mentioned that tanks escorting the trucks had subsequently fired warning shots to disperse the crowd and had withdrawn when the situation began to escalate. "No IDF strike was conducted towards the aid convoy," he said.
We hate spam as much as you do
© Hindeez 2024, All Rights Reserved
