Ariane Ménage / Photo credits: OREN ZIV / AFP
Israeli fire on a hungry crowd and a large stampede during an aid distribution Thursday in northern Gaza left more than 110 dead according to Hamas, sparking outrage and calls for accountability in the international community.
Abroad, international condemnations are increasing after the tragedy that occurred last night in Gaza City, where dozens of Palestinians were killed during a food distribution which turned into a riot. Faced with this, Emmanuel Macron expressed his disapproval and demanded the truth. The Israeli army acknowledges limited fire on the crowd, but assures that its soldiers felt threatened.
Ceasefire threatened?
The IDF recognizes live fire, preceded by warning shots and isolated, officials insist, fired by threatened soldiers who were flanking the convoy. “No strike by the Israeli army was carried out towards the humanitarian convoy. On the contrary, the Israeli army was there to carry out a humanitarian operation in order to secure the humanitarian corridor,” specifies an official. According to Israel, the tragedy was caused by a crowd movement as the convoy passed through the entrance to Gaza City, along the coast.
The army released aerial images which it said showed thousands of Palestinians rushing onto trucks. “Some began to push violently, to the point of trampling other Gazans to death to loot humanitarian aid,” says a member of the Israeli army. The precise course of events still remains unclear. On the spot, Gazan witnesses say that it was the shooting by Israeli soldiers that caused the panic, then the stampede. The latest Hamas reports show more than a hundred dead and 700 injured. This event, they threaten, could mark the end of negotiations for a ceasefire.