Israeli fire leaves around a hundred dead on the sidelines of a humanitarian distribution, according to Hamas

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More than a hundred civilians died and at least 760 were injured as they rushed into humanitarian aid trucks in the north from the Gaza Strip. while they were waiting for humanitarian aid trucks this Thursday, February 29, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health, in power in the Palestinian enclave. “ The death toll from the al-Rashid Street massacre in Gaza City now stands at 104 dead and 760 injured », Declared in a statement the spokesperson for the Hamas Ministry of Health, Ashraf al-Qudra, revising upwards an initial hospital report which reported at least 50 deaths.

To explain what happened, the emergency director of al-Chifa hospital in Gaza City, Amjad Aliwa, first indicated that Israeli soldiers had shot at “ thousands of citizens » who were rushing towards trucks, while the territory is on the verge of famine. At the same time, witnesses also reported to AFP scenes in which thousands of people rushed towards aid trucks in a roundabout in the west of the city.

Crowd movement and people “trampled”, according to the Israeli army

For its part, according to the Israeli army, 30 aid trucks entered Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing point early in the morning and headed north, reports Israeli media Haaretz. Arriving at the junction of Gaza City, the trucks were stormed by residents, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said, leading to the death of dozens of people trampled ». The trucks continued their journey north and, when they reached the Rimal neighborhood, armed individuals reportedly attacked the trucks to loot them.

At that point, according to the Israeli military’s account, some of the crowd began to approach an IDF unit in the area, prompting soldiers to fire warning shots in the air at a distance of several tens of meters, before aiming at the legs of those who continued to advance towards them.

These Israeli soldiers felt “ threat », before firing live ammunition at Palestinians, Israeli sources explained to AFP. On the other hand, the latter denied that these shots were responsible for the toll of more than a hundred Palestinian deaths. On X (formerly Twitter), the Israeli army shared a video which it claimed showed humanitarian trucks being attacked by Palestinians. In another tweet, the army specifies that “ event details are being reviewed “.

A “horrible massacre”, according to the Palestinian Authority

Hamas responded by indicating that this incident could derail negotiations regarding a ceasefire and an agreement to release the hostages. “ The negotiations carried out by the leadership of the movement are not an open process at the expense of the blood of our people “, the organization said, referring to Thursday’s deaths and asserting that Israel would be responsible for any failure of the talks.

The office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said it “ condemned the horrific massacre perpetrated by the Israeli occupying army this morning against people waiting for aid trucks at the Nabulsi roundabout “.

(And with AFP)

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