Over 100 Palestinians have been killed in a three-part disastrous delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in northern Gaza.
The picture is still far from clear, but according to the IDF, the vast majority of Palestinians were killed while trampling each other to get to around 30 aid trucks around 4:00 a.m.
Hamas, without providing evidence, accused the IDF of committing a “massacre.”
The trucks had come from the Keren Shalom and Rafah crossings, traveled along the coastal road to a part of northern Gaza close to Rimal, and then cut into residential areas to make deliveries.
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.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) February 29, 2024
According to the IDF, and with a 100-second satellite video in support, thousands of Palestinians converged on the aid trucks and attempted to take supplies by force.
It is unclear in the video if and when Palestinians trampled each other, though the scene from the satellite footage is extremely chaotic and does show many Palestinians occupying the same space.
The video does not show any firing by the IDF.
It is unclear from the video if any Palestinians were trampled by the trucks as they tried to make progress.
Incident at El-Nabusi Square
A second incident occurred a short time later at another spot at El-Nabusi Square, where unidentified armed Palestinians fired on the trucks and stole supplies.
It was unclear who or how many people may have been injured at this stage, but IDF forces did not fire on anyone.
In the third stage, a large group of Palestinians descended on the aid trucks but also came close to a surprise protective force stationed nearby.
According to the IDF, once the large group of Palestinians progressed to only being a couple dozen meters away from them, the IDF forces fired in the air and issued warnings to stay away.
When the same Palestinians continued to come closer to IDF forces to a point where the forces felt threatened, they were directed to fire at the Palestinians’ legs.
During this incident, an estimated 10 Palestinians were killed. It was unclear if these Palestinians had aggressive intentions or were civilians caught up in a chaotic moment.
IDF sources seemed to suggest there were no special rules limiting live fire against such civilians in the context of a humanitarian operation or whether the forces could have retreated backward, citing that the area was still a war zone.
Gaza aid-distribution deaths a tragedy, Israeli official says
Government spokesperson Avi Hyman said, “My understanding is that humanitarian aid vehicles entered the Gaza Strip and were overwhelmed by people attempting to loot, to take that aid from aid trucks.”
“At some point, the trucks were overwhelmed, and the people driving the trucks, which were Gazan civilian drivers, plowed into the crowd of people, ultimately killing tens of people,” Hyman said.
“It’s obviously a tragedy, but we’re not sure of the specifics quite yet.”
In response to the incident, Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir criticized the transfer of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
“Today, it was proven that the transfer of humanitarian aid to Gaza while hostages are being held captive in the Gaza strip is not only madness, but it also endangers the life of IDF soldiers. “
“This is another reason why we must stop the transfer of aid. In truth, the aid only harms IDF soldiers and provides oxygen to Hamas,” Ben-Gvir concluded.
Israel’s defense establishment is in favor of providing humanitarian aid in order to maintain US support.
Jerusalem Post Staff and Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.
Comments are closed.