In Gaza, which is threatened with famine, several aid distributions have degenerated in recent weeks, causing several deaths. With one in two residents in the Palestinian territory experiencing a catastrophic food situation, according to a UN report, Israel said Friday that the assessment contained inaccuracies, questionable sources and gaps.
Information to remember
⇒ Several deaths in Gaza during new aid distribution
⇒ Israel denounces inaccuracies in ICP report pointing to risk of famine in Gaza
⇒ Netanyahu gives green light to new truce talks
Several dead in Gaza during new aid distribution
The Palestinian Red Crescent reported five deaths and 30 injured, this Saturday, March 30 before dawn, in Gaza City during a new distribution of food aid which degenerated. Three of the dead died from gunfire, according to the Red Crescent. This new tragedy occurred while thousands of people were waiting for the arrival of around fifteen trucks of flour and other food, according to the relief organization, at the Kuwait roundabout, the scene of previous incidents. Videos filmed by AFP show trucks advancing in the dark, amid trash fires. We hear shots all around, screams and the horns of heavy goods vehicles trying to advance.
According to testimonies, members of “popular protection committees”, responsible for supervising the distribution, fired into the air, while in the stampede and confusion, trucks ran over people. The testimonies also mention, at the same time, “heavy” fire from Israeli tanks positioned a few hundred meters away, without specifying their destination. Contacted by AFP, the Israeli army did not immediately respond. The victims were transported to Gaza Baptist Hospital. Several aid distributions have degenerated in recent weeks, leaving dozens dead, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.
Report on the risk of famine in Gaza: Israel denounces inaccuracies
Israel on Friday denounced a report by the Integrated Food Security Classification Framework (IPC), a global body bringing together several partners including the United Nations, which warned of an imminent famine in Gaza, saying the assessment contained inaccuracies , dubious sources and gaps. According to the report published last week, one in two inhabitants in the Palestinian territory experiences a catastrophic food situation, particularly in the northern Gaza Strip threatened by famine.
Israel must “allow UNRWA to reach the northern Gaza Strip with food convoys […] daily and to open other land crossing points,” asked the head of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, on Friday.
Netanyahu gives green light to new truce talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave the green light on Friday to new talks with a view to a truce in the Palestinian territory of Gaza, which has been besieged and bombarded incessantly for almost six months. Netanyahu, according to his office, “approved a next round of negotiations, in the coming days, in Doha and Cairo […] to move forward”, after meeting with the directors of the intelligence services, Mossad and Shin Bet.
In recent months, several negotiation sessions have taken place via international mediators – Egypt, Qatar, United States – but without result, the protagonists accusing each other of blocking them. Since the start of the war, only one week-long truce has been established at the end of November. It allowed the release of around a hundred hostages kidnapped during the October 7 attack in exchange for Palestinian prisoners incarcerated by Israel.
In total, more than 32,705 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli retaliatory offensive, according to the report published this Saturday by the Hamas Ministry of Health – unverifiable by an independent source. In 24 hours, 82 additional deaths were recorded, according to a press release from the ministry, which reports 75,190 injured in nearly six months of war.