Hamas accuses Israel of shooting at civilians waiting for food aid in the Gaza Strip this Friday, March 15. The Islamist group reports 20 dead and at least 155 injured, but the Israeli army denies having fired on civilians.
A new drama on the sidelines of a humanitarian convoy in Gaza. This Friday, March 15, Hamas accused the Israeli army of having fired on a crowd of civilians who were waiting for the arrival of humanitarian aid in the north of the Palestinian enclave. According to the Hamas Minister of Health, the shooting left 20 dead and 155 injured. “The Israeli occupation forces targeted a gathering of citizens waiting for humanitarian aid. So far 11 dead and 100 injured have been transported to al-Chifa hospital,” the Islamist group indicated earlier in the morning. Since then, the balance sheet has been revised upwards.
Witnesses, including Mohammed Ghurab who is director of emergency services at al-Chifa hospital, also reported “shooting […] on people who gathered to wait for the arrival of trucks with food” to AFP. The doctor specified that the shots came “from the occupying forces”. Hamas added that these shots came from “tanks and helicopters”. Another witness claimed, according to the NGO Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, that “the Israeli army opened fire (…) as soon as the humanitarian aid trucks approached the roundabout”.
Israeli forces have denied all these accusations. They claim that “armed Palestinians” had fired into the crowd. “No tank fire, air strikes or shots were carried out in the direction of civilians,” according to the Israeli army, which explains that after the arrival of the trucks, the “armed Palestinians continued to shoot while the Crowds of Gazans began to loot the trucks. Still according to the IDF, “a certain number of civilians” were “crushed by the trucks”. “Press reports that Israeli forces attacked dozens of Gazans at an aid distribution point are erroneous,” the IDF initially wrote in a statement. The Jewish state army says it is “analyzing the incident seriously”.
Previous Israeli shots during food distribution
The facts described this Friday recall another tragedy that occurred on February 29 during a distribution of food aid in the Gaza Strip. Hamas then accused the Israeli army of having fired on a crowd of civilians, something the occupation forces denied.
The army ended up admitting to being at the origin of some shots, but added that it was not at the origin of the hundred deaths and hundreds of others injured, according to the toll given by Hamas. Israeli forces explained that they opened fire after being surrounded by a crowd of civilians and feeling a threat to them. They finally attributed the heavy toll to the crowd movement of civilians who had jostled and trampled each other.