Israeli forces open fire on Palestinians surrounding aid trucks, reportedly killing scores
Gaza City, Gaza - Israeli forces on Friday morning opened fire on desperate Gaza City residents who rushed towards trucks loaded with humanitarian aid, reportedly killing over 100 and injuring more than 750 others.
A dire humanitarian crisis is unfolding in the strip, with food shortages greatest in the north of Gaza.
Thousands of locals surrounded aid trucks that had finally made it through the many Israeli checkpoints, at which point the IDF began shooting at the crowd.
A witness told AFP the shocking scenes unfolded at the Nabulsi roundabout in the western part of Gaza City.
"Trucks full of aid came too close to some army tanks that were in the area and the crowd, thousands of people, just stormed the trucks," the witness said, declining to be named for safety reasons. "The soldiers fired at the crowd as people came too close to the tanks."
The latest death toll cited by local health authorities stands at 104 and may rise further, with many hundreds reported injured.
"Medical teams are unable to deal with the volume and type of injuries arriving at Al-Shifa Medical Complex as a result of weak medical and human capabilities," health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said in a statement.
Palestinian ambassador blasts Israeli counterpart: "Are these human shields"
Despite being ordered by the International Court of Justice to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza by – among other measures – facilitating the entry of humanitarian aid to the strip, Israel has been accused of systematically blocking access and starving the Palestinian population.
According to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, just over 2,300 aid trucks have entered the Gaza Strip in February, down by around 50 percent compared to January.
Thursday's incident in Gaza City spurred a heated exchange at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, where Palestinian ambassador Ibrahim Mohammad Khraishi confronted his Israeli counterpart on the reported casualties.
"Are these human shields? Are these Hamas combatants?" Khraishi said.
The IDF justified the shootings by saying the crowd approached the aid trucks "in a manner that posed a threat to [Israeli] troops."
Over 30,000 people have been killed in Israel's assault on Gaza since the October 7 Hamas attack, with many more thought to be buried under the rubble and the prospect of mass starvation looming.
Cover photo: REUTERS