Terrorist Israel martyrs 104 Palestinians at aid point
GAZA, Palestine (AFP) - Israeli forces martyred 104 people when a crowd rushed towards aid trucks on Thursday, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said, in one of the worst single incidents of a nearly five-month war.
More than 750 people were also hurt in the incident, the ministry said. It came after aid agencies had intensified warnings over Gaza's humanitarian situation, with famine threatening particularly in Gaza's north. Looting of aid trucks had previously occurred in northern Gaza, where residents have taken to eating animal fodder and even leaves to try to stave off hunger.
Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said hundreds were martyred and wounded from "bullets of the occupation forces that targeted a gathering of citizens" at Gaza City's Nabulsi roundabout. He called it a "massacre".
A witness told AFP that "thousands of people" had "just stormed the trucks", which were near army tanks. "The soldiers fired at the crowd as people came too close to the tanks," the witness said, declining to be named for safety reasons.
Israeli sources confirmed that troops opened fire at Palestinians rushing toward aid trucks in Gaza, with one saying soldiers thought they "posed a threat" to troops. A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, however, said many of the dead were crushed by the trucks themselves, after "aid trucks were overwhelmed by people trying to loot".
The Gaza City shooting adds to a Palestinian death toll from the war which the health ministry earlier Thursday said had topped 30,000. It came after mediators said a truce deal between Israel and Hamas militants could be just days away. In a reflection of increased concern at the White House, President Joe Biden's administration is considering air-dropping aid into Gaza, US news site Axios reported early Thursday.
Famine 'imminent'
The United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA described the food security situation as "extremely critical across Gaza, particularly in northern Gaza." According to the World Food Programme (WFP), no humanitarian group had been able to deliver aid to the north for more than a month. The agency accused Israel of blocking access. "If nothing changes, a famine is imminent in northern Gaza," WFP's deputy executive director Carl Skau said.
Israeli officials have denied blocking supplies. With aid flows on the ground limited, more is coming in by parachute. Neighbouring Jordan said it had on Thursday again air-dropped food and other relief. Jordan's army said the drop over northern Gaza came in collaboration with Bahrain and Oman.
The United Arab Emirates' official news agency WAM said the Gulf country had begun a joint operation with Egypt to drop food and medical aid. The operation would last several weeks, it said. In the south, nearly 1.5 million people trying to flee the fighting are now packed into Rafah city, also short of food, as Israel threatens to send in troops against Hamas fighters there.
"They are 30,000 martyrs. I don't know what (Israel) want from us, and why they killed this number. It is a genocide," said Jihad Salha, one of the displaced in Rafah. Intense fighting has taken place in Khan Yunis city a few kilometres (miles) from Rafah.
