Thousands of famished Palestinians gathered at a food distribution site early this morning in western Gaza City, as a rare delivery of food arrived. Within moments, a massacre ensued, with at least 104 people dead and another 760 or so injured, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. While there are various incomplete reports, it is apparent that Israel Defense Forces fired their weapons, including drones and tanks, and that the aid trucks and the starving crowd scrambled, causing even more injuries.
An early IDF report made no reference to any Israeli fire, saying only to CNN that, “Gazan residents … looted the supplies being delivered. During the incident, dozens of Gazans were injured as a result of pushing and trampling.”
Later, an Israeli official told CNN that IDF troops indeed did use live fire. CNN quoted the official as saying “the crowd approached the forces in a manner that posed a threat to the troops, who responded to the threat with live fire. The incident is under review.”
Finally, Israeli spokesperson Avi Hyman told reporters that people in Gaza who were killed while waiting in line for humanitarian aid are “obviously a tragedy, but we’re not sure of the specifics quite yet…. At some point, the trucks were overwhelmed and the people driving the trucks, which were Gazan civilian drivers, plowed into the crowds of people ultimately killing, as my understanding is, tens of people. I don’t have anything more specific to that. It is unfolding.”
