A Palestinian bids farewell to the deceased at the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on 29 February. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Muhammad Ali).
The Palestinian Gaza Strip** said that on February 29, Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd waiting to receive aid in Gaza City, killing hundreds of people. Israel has denied attacking civilians, saying they died in a stampede caused by looting supplies.
The United Nations and a number of Arab countries condemned the incident. U.S.-** Joseph Biden said the incident could further complicate ongoing ceasefire talks in Gaza.
The scene is chaotic and there are different opinions
Ashraf Kidela, a spokesman for the Gaza Strip's health department, said the Israeli army "lost at least 112 people and injured more than 700 others as civilians waiting to receive aid."
Witnesses, who asked not to be named, told AFP that in the early morning of the 29th, thousands of Palestinians flocked to a convoy of trucks transporting aid, and Israeli tanks tasked with "supervising" the convoy towards the crowd.
The wounded Kamal Abu Nahl said that when he heard about aid coming in, he went to the distribution point in the middle of the night to queue up and fled as Israeli forces opened fire as people moved flour and cans from trucks. After the Israeli army stopped shooting, the people returned to the truck and the Israeli army opened fire a second time. Nahl was shot in the leg and fell to the ground, where he was run over by a truck before being taken to Shifa Hospital for acceptance**.
Mohammed Salha, director of Oda's hospital**, said Oda's hospital received 161 wounded, most of whom appeared to have suffered gunshot wounds.
This is a photograph of a wounded Palestinian at the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on February 29. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Muhammad Ali).
Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari denied that Israeli soldiers had opened fire on the Palestinian crowd. He said that a convoy of trucks carrying aid escorted by Israeli tanks was intercepted and looted by Palestinians, and the Israeli army fired warning shots into the air in an attempt to disperse the crowd, but the more people gathered, the Israeli convoy of tanks and trucks had to withdraw. In the process, some of the people were run over by the retreating trucks.
An Israeli**, who requested anonymity, gave a different account. He told Reuters that at first, the looting of supplies caused a stampede and crush, and dozens of people died; Subsequently, as the crowd continued to gather, Israeli soldiers "felt threatened" and responded "in a limited way" by opening fire on approaching crowds, resulting in an unknown number of dead and wounded. He denied the death and injury figures released by the health authorities in the Gaza Strip, but did not provide Israeli statistics.
** Tragic condemnation from many parties
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait and other Arab countries issued statements condemning the Israeli army's targeting of Palestinian civilians and calling on Israel to open more safe corridors and allow more humanitarian supplies into the Gaza Strip. France, Spain and other European countries have criticized the Israeli military for being "unjustified" and "unacceptable" to civilians.
People wait to receive food in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip on 27 February. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Muhammad Ali).
The spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, Stefana Dijarric, issued a statement condemning the incident. He said the truck convoy was not operated by a UN agency and that UN humanitarian assistance activities in northern Gaza had been halted. He called for an investigation into the matter and accountability.
It is not clear who sent the trucks involved. The trucks were operated by private contractors, the Israeli military said.
The health department of the Gaza Strip said in a statement on February 29 that since the outbreak of the new Palestinian-Israeli conflict on October 7 last year, the Israeli army's military operations in the Gaza Strip have killed more than 30,000 people and injured more than 70,000.
Ceasefire negotiations may be affected
Biden said that the American side is studying "two different versions" of the incident, and he has spoken with the leaders of Egypt and Qatar to discuss the matter.
Asked by reporters whether the incident would affect the ongoing ceasefire talks in Gaza, Biden answered in the affirmative. Biden had previously expressed optimism that a ceasefire agreement between Palestine and Israel would be reached by March 4, but said on February 29 that it was "unlikely."
This is an interior scene of Khan Younis Nasser Hospital, a city in the southern Gaza Strip, filmed on February 28. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Rizek Abduljawad).
The United States, Qatar and Egypt are brokering a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) ahead of Ramadan.
Hamas issued a statement on February 29 denouncing the Israeli claims, calling the evidence provided by the Gaza Strip's health authorities and witnesses "incontrovertible." Hamas said ceasefire talks should not be allowed "to become a cover for the enemy to continue to commit crimes," suggesting that ceasefire talks could be affected.
* Xinhua News AgencyWritten by Wang Hongbin.
Edited by Li Tuo.
Process Editor: Ma Xiaoshuang.