GAZA, PALESTINE — The condition of Palestine after 146 consecutive days of attack by Israel is getting worse. Although humanitarian aid comes from all over the world, it is difficult for them to cross the Rafah border.
Most recently, a video circulated on social media of Israeli soldiers shooting at a group of Gazans who were waiting in line for food. At least 112 people were killed and more than 750 wounded. This incident took place in the southwestern region of Gaza City, Palestine.
Chronology of the shooting incident
The incident occurred at around 4:30 a.m. local time on Thursday (2/29/2024) on Harun al-Rashid Street at Nabulsi Roundabout in the southwestern part of Gaza City. The location is in the northern part of Gaza, where food aid is scarce. The first aid shipment only arrived this week, after more than a month of no aid delivery.
Read also: Rafah Border Targeted in Israeli Attack
By this time, people had gathered to greet the aid trucks carrying flour that were still on their way. Residents began to gather when they realized that the convoy of trucks carrying foodstuffs had passed through checkpoints, heading north. According to the Israeli military, 31 trucks entered Gaza, but nearly 20 trucks had entered northern Gaza on Monday and Tuesday.
According to Hani Mahmoud, an Al Jazeera reporter in Rafah, as people gathered to wait for much-needed aid, they were fired upon with a variety of military equipment by Israel. Meanwhile, according to the Associated Press report, people began pulling boxes of flour and canned food from the truck.
They began to flee as the first shots were fired by Israel. After the first attack stopped, people returned to the truck, but the Israeli soldiers opened fire again.
“After opening fire, Israeli tanks advanced and ran over many dead and wounded,” said Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera reporter.
This comes one day after the Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Program (WFP), told the United Nations (UN) Security Council that more than 500,000 people, or 1 in 4 people are at risk of hunger, with one in six children under the age of two experiencing acute malnutrition.
Palestinian testimonies
Palestinians in Gaza say that Israeli forces committed a massacre by shooting at crowds of people waiting to collect much-needed food aid.
“It’s becoming clearer that they feel this is a trap, an ambush (from Israel),” Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud said as he tried to speak with Gazans.
“We came here to get help. I’ve been waiting since noon yesterday. At around 4:30am, the trucks started arriving. Israeli soldiers shot at us randomly, as if it was a trap. As soon as we approached the aid trucks, Israeli tanks and warplanes started shooting at us,” said an eyewitness at the scene.
Instead of ambulances, donkey carts are used to take people to the hospital. This is because there are no ambulances that can reach the area.
“We were about to bring flour … then Israeli snipers opened fire on us. They shot me in the leg. I couldn’t stand up,” said one resident.
What is the current aid situation in Gaza?
Since the war began on October 7, 2023, humanitarian aid agencies have claimed that Israel deliberately delays aid deliveries. However, Israel has denied the allegations.
“The risk of famine is fueled by the inability to bring essential food supplies to Gaza in sufficient quantities, and the near-impossible operating conditions faced by our staff on the ground,” said Carl Skau, WFP Deputy Executive Director.
He described the dangerous conditions faced by WFP trucks trying to bring food into northern Gaza earlier this month.
“There were delays at checkpoints. They faced gunfire and other violence. Food was looted along the way and at the destination. They are overwhelmed with people who are very hungry,” he added.
A month ago, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague said that Israel must do everything to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza, Palestine. But according to human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, Israel has failed to take the minimum steps to comply.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the number of humanitarian aid trucks to Gaza has decreased by 40 percent since the ICJ ruling.