Israeli fire on a hungry crowd and a large stampede during an aid distribution turned into chaos Thursday in Gaza City. At least 112 Palestinians were killed and 760 injured, according to Hamas. Two versions clash. Hamas claims that the Israeli army opened fire on the crowd. Israel, for its part, recognizes “limited shooting” by soldiers who felt “threatened”, ensuring that the majority of those killed were killed in a stampede.
This tragedy occurred the day Hamas announced that more than 30,000 people had died in nearly five months of war in the Palestinian territory, also threatened by famine. It sparked indignation and calls to establish the truth within the international community.
Information to remember
⇒ Macron expressed his “firmest disapproval” after the tragedy linked to the distribution of aid in Gaza
⇒ The UN Secretary General “condemned” these events
⇒ The head of European diplomacy denounces “new carnage”
Deaths during aid distribution in Gaza: Macron expresses his “firm disapproval”
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his “strongest disapproval” this Friday and demanded “truth” and “justice” after the death announced by Hamas of more than 110 people during an aid distribution in Gaza. “Profound indignation at the images reaching us from Gaza where civilians were targeted by Israeli soldiers,” wrote the head of state on truth, justice and respect for international law.”
In a statement, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced Thursday “unjustifiable Israeli fire.” “The shooting by Israeli soldiers against civilians trying to access food is unjustifiable,” according to the Quai d’Orsay. The latter notes that “this tragic event comes at a time when the humanitarian situation in Gaza is an absolute emergency”, with “an increasing and unbearable number of Palestinian civilians suffering from hunger and disease”.
“We are waiting for all light to be shed on the acts mentioned, which are very serious,” writes the Quai d’Orsay, stressing that “it is Israel’s responsibility to comply with the rules of law international and to protect the distribution of humanitarian aid to civilian populations.
Gaza: UN chief “condemns” these events
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, for his part, “condemns” the events which led to the death of around a hundred people on Thursday, said his spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric. “We don’t know exactly what happened. But whether these people were killed by Israeli fire, whether they were crushed by crowds, or run over by trucks, these are acts of violence, in a certain way, linked to this conflict,” said Stéphane Dujarric, describing deaths in “horrible circumstances.”
“I am shocked to learn that in a new episode of the war in Gaza, 100 people who were queuing for humanitarian aid were killed,” Antonio Guterres said at a conference. press office in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, a small Caribbean country. “I think a situation like this deserves an effective independent investigation to identify how this was possible and those who are responsible,” he added.
Gaza: Borrell denounces “new carnage” and “totally unacceptable” deaths
The head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell, for his part, denounced on Thursday “new carnage” and “totally unacceptable” deaths following this event. “I am horrified by reports of further carnage among civilians in Gaza who were desperate to obtain humanitarian aid,” Josep Borrell said on the social network X. “These deaths are completely unacceptable,” he said. he adds.
Joe Biden considers a ceasefire in Gaza unlikely by Monday
US President Joe Biden considered it unlikely on Thursday that a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip could be concluded by Monday, after the death of more than 110 people, according to Hamas, during a distribution of help.
Asked whether he believed this event would have an impact on ceasefire negotiations, Joe Biden replied: “I know it will.” He again judged that such a truce would “probably not happen by” Monday, as he had said he hoped at the start of the week.
More than 30 international media outlets call for protection of Palestinian journalists in Gaza
More than 30 international media outlets, including the world’s leading news agencies, expressed solidarity on Thursday with Palestinian journalists working in conditions of extreme difficulty in Gaza and called on Israeli authorities to “protect” them like civilians. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a New York-based association that coordinated this open letter, at least 94 journalists have been killed since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, the majority of whom, 89, are “Palestinians killed by the Israeli army”, the deadliest conflict “ever documented” by the organization.
“For nearly five months, journalists and media professionals in Gaza – who are virtually the only source of information on the ground in the Palestinian territory – have been working in unprecedented conditions” and “continue to work despite the risks personal risks they incur”, we can read in the letter signed by BBC News, the New York Times, Der Spiegel Or Haaretzand initialed by the three main global news agencies, Associated Press (AP), Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Reuters, as well as the World Association of Newspapers (WAN-IFRA).