What we know so far about deadly aid truck incident in Gaza City

By admin On Mar 1, 2024

The Gaza health ministry says more than 100 Palestinians waiting for an aid delivery were killed and hundreds of others injured in Gaza, blaming Israeli forces.

The Israeli army has claimed at 4.40am the first aid truck in the humanitarian convoy made its way through a humanitarian corridor the IDF said it was securing on Al Rashid Road, west of Gaza City.

Israel Defence Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said Israeli tanks were there to secure the area, but during the operation a mob “ambushed the aid convoy bringing it to a halt”, and the IDF fired warning shots to “disperse the mob”, adding “no strike” was conducted towards the aid convoy.

While the situation continues to develop, using satellite images, videos released by the IDF, and footage shot from the ground, Sky News has pieced together a first indication of what happened.

Series of gun shots heard

Civilians were gathering to try to get food and medicine from aid truck deliveries – which in recent weeks have dramatically declined due to a collapse in security and difficulties coordinating their passage.

A video obtained by Al Jazeera shows a crowd appearing to flee and duck amid audible gunfire. It was filmed on a section of open ground just off Al Rashid Street, a further 200 metres northeast up the road.

The video is filmed outside in the dark – meaning it would have been taken before sunrise, which was around 6.10am local time.

Shouting can also be heard as people are seen climbing over what appears to be a vehicle as dozens hurry past the camera.

Aerial video indicates density of people gathered

The IDF released a series of monochrome aerial clips which show hundreds of people gathering towards trucks trying to receive food on Al Rashid Street. It is unclear exactly when the IDF footage was filmed.

The video shows an area adjacent to the intersection of Al Rashid Street and No 10 Street. Around 20 people in this clip appear to be not moving, and it’s not clear if they are dead, wounded or sheltering.

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The second clip located was filmed just over 400 metres northeast along Al Rashid Street from the first. Also released by the IDF, it shows large crowds surrounding several trucks.

Together, the Al Jazeera and IDF videos were filmed over roughly 600 metres and show the events unfolded over a large area.

The location of this is notable due to its proximity to a newly established Israeli checkpoint and outpost, located around 400 metres south of the first video.

Bodies laying on vehicle

Aftermath video also located to the incident site where the IDF footage was filmed, shows a number of bodies lying on top of a vehicle.

Following the incident, medical teams said they were unable to cope with the volume and severity of the injuries, with dozens of wounded taken to the Al Shifa hospital – which is just under 4km from the incident site.

What has Hamas said?

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry has said at least 112 people were killed and several more injured during the aid delivery.

It claims the Gazans killed were fired on by the IDF.

What has Israel said?

Israel’s account of the incident is “not clear”, having given several “different versions of events”, Sky Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall said.

He said the incident happened in the early hours of the morning in darkness – adding to the confusion and difficulties trying to establish the truth of what happened.

In a five-minute statement on X, Mr Hagari said after the aid truck made its way through the humanitarian corridor at around 4.45am, “a mob ambushed the aid trucks, bringing the convoy to a halt”.

After seeing Gazans “being trampled” by the stampede, the IDF “tried cautiously to disperse the mob with a few warning shots in the air”.

“When hundreds [of Gazans] became thousands, the tank commander decided to retreat to avoid harm to the thousands of Gazans,” he said. “No IDF strike was conducted towards the aid convoy.”

This account contradicts earlier statements, however.

Initially, the IDF suggested a civilian truck driver had mown down Palestinians seeking aid during the stampede.

Separately “there was a suggestion that this was potentially Hamas stealing aid”, military analyst Sean Bell adds.

Kamel Abu Nahel went to the distribution point in the middle of the night, having heard there would be a delivery of food.

According to his eyewitness account, Israeli troops opened fire on the crowd as people pulled boxes of flour and canned goods off the trucks, causing them to scatter, with some hiding under cars.

After the shooting stopped, people went back to the trucks, and the soldiers opened fire again. He was shot in the leg and fell over, and then a truck ran over his leg as it sped off, he said, eventually seeking treatment at the Shifa Hospital.

What has been said elsewhere?

Thursday’s incident has drawn criticism from world leaders, who have demanded an investigation into what happened.

US President Joe Biden was asked if it complicated efforts for a ceasefire, to which he replied: “I know it will.”

French President Emmanuel Macron called for “justice and respect for international law” in a post on X.

Separately, the UN’s aid chief Martin Griffiths said he was “appalled” at the reported killings and injuries.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the incident on X, writing: “The desperate civilians in Gaza need urgent help, including those in the north where the UN has not been able to deliver aid in more than a week.”

Josep Borrell Fontelles, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, also posted: “I am horrified by news of yet another carnage among civilians in Gaza desperate for humanitarian aid. These deaths are totally unacceptable. Depriving people of food aid constitutes a serious violation of IHL [International Humanitarian Law].”

Aid in Gaza

The incident comes as aid groups say it has become nearly impossible to deliver humanitarian assistance in most of Gaza because of the difficulty of co-ordinating with the Israeli military and ongoing hostilities.

They also point to the breakdown of public order, with crowds of desperate people overwhelming aid convoys.

The UN says a quarter of Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians face starvation, and around 80% have fled their homes.

Aid deliveries to northern Gaza have been rare and chaotic, passing through more active military zones to an area where the UN says many people are starving, with videos showing desperate crowds surging around supply trucks including the one below filmed this month.

UN and other relief agencies have complained that Israel has denied attempts they have made to transfer humanitarian aid to northern parts of the enclave, restricting movement and communications.

Israel has denied any restrictions on humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza and has said the UN is responsible for failures to deliver supplies.

The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.

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