Hundreds of Palestinians were allegedly targeted by Israeli forces in Gaza City, leading to 104 casualties and more than 750 injuries.
It was claimed that Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd of people waiting to collect food handouts, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health. A violent mob of Gazans gathered around relief trucks, injuring several, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said, leading to the deaths.
An IDF officer said that following the mayhem, Israeli forces launched warning rounds before opening fire on bystanders who had hurried near rescue trucks and an Israeli tank, with more troops assisting in securing the convoy. There were dozens of wounded and at least ten bodies brought in from the area, according to the head of a hospital in the devastated Palestinian enclave. As a result of the high volume of patients arriving at Al Shifa, the largest hospital in Gaza City, medical staff were overwhelmed.
As thousands gathered around the convoy of relief vehicles on Thursday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) published black-and-white footage shot from a drone, revealing the chaotic scenes below. An official from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Avi Hyman, stated that the humanitarian convoy was swarmed by people trying to loot the trucks, ultimately leading to deaths.
At the outset of their campaign against Hamas, the Israeli Defense Forces targeted Gaza City, the group’s headquarters. The assault and fighting have moved southward, with Rafah, on the southern border of Gaza with Egypt, set to be the site of an Israeli military offensive. A credible plan to evacuate the approximately 1.5 million Palestinians who have rushed into Rafah from throughout Gaza since the conflict began is required before Israel can launch that operation, according to a warning from the United States.
Israel and Hamas are currently in Qatar negotiating a new ceasefire and hostage release arrangement, but despite increasing pressure from the Biden administration, no progress has been made in these talks, and the fighting and sights of famine continue unabated.
