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At least 104 Palestinians have been killed and another 750 wounded at an aid distribution point west of Gaza City in what the local health ministry spokesperson Ashaf al-Qidra described as an unprovoked Israeli attack on the civilians waiting for a delivery on Thursday.
Video from the scene of the massacre posted to social media showed people fleeing and taking cover while victims were taken to hospitals by any means available – including donkey carts, as roads to the site had been destroyed. However, it was impossible to confirm from the video what had triggered the deadly chaos.
The Israeli Defense Forces officially acknowledged dozens of injuries and casualties among the crowd, but blamed the victims, claiming they were “pushing and trampling” at the sight of the aid trucks. IDF Spokesperson RAdm. Daniel Hagari claimed only a few “warning shots” were fired to disperse the crowd of “looters.”
An Israeli military source not authorized to speak with the press admitted his colleagues fired at the crowd – but blamed the victims for that as well.
“The crowd approached the forces in a manner which posed a threat to the troops,” the source said.
However, witnesses’ stories appeared incompatible with the suggestion the soldiers who fired on the crowd had done so out of fear. IDF troops allegedly opened fire twice – waiting until the first aid-seekers had returned to the truck from hiding to shoot them again, according to Kamel Abu Nahel, who told reporters from his bed in Al Shifa Hospital that he was shot in the leg and then run over as the trucks sped away from the scene.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the “ugly massacre conducted by the Israeli occupation army this morning against the people who waited for the aid trucks,” according to his office. Hamas also condemned the incident, which it called “unprecedented in the history of war crimes,” as part of Israel’s “war of starvation” against the people of Gaza.
