The U.S. military has airdropped food and aid into Gaza, U.S. officials said, in the first round of emergency humanitarian aid authorized by President Joe Biden.
Videos posted by Palestinians on social media showed a U.S. C-130 cargo plane dropping boxes of aid. The first phase of the humanitarian operation saw more than 35,000 food and aid items airdropped on pallets into the enclave, where the United Nations reports that a quarter of the population is one step away from famine.
The White House said the airdrops would be an ongoing effort and that Israel supported the operation.
The Jordanian and Egyptian militaries said they also conducted airdrops.
Biden approved the humanitarian action, the first of many, on Thursday after at least 115 Palestinians died as they swarmed to get supplies from an aid convoy. Hundreds of people were also injured in the chaos, according to the health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza.
Questions remain a day after Israeli soldiers and civilians sought aid in northern Gaza, with international calls for an investigation growing.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday that an “effective independent investigation” was necessary to understand the causes and who was responsible for the horrific events. A White House spokesman also said the incident “requires a thorough investigation.”
Palestinian witnesses accused Israeli troops of opening fire on a group of people waiting to collect aid from an approaching convoy. Israel disputes that account, saying dozens of people trampled on each other and were run over by fleeing aid trucks. A military spokesman said their troops only fired “a few warning shots” to disperse the crowd.
“The IDF did not launch an attack on the aid convoy,” IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a video posted on social media platform X on Thursday. He said the Israeli tanks were present to secure the humanitarian corridor. , for a private convoy of 38 trucks to pass.
Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour called the incident a “heinous massacre.”
“Based on the information we have, dozens of people were shot in the head,” he told reporters Thursday of those at the scene. “This is not like shooting into the air to restrain people during chaos and chaos. This is deliberately targeting and killing.”
international reaction
The European Union’s foreign ministry on Saturday urged the international community to investigate the incident.
The European External Action Service blamed the crisis on “restrictions imposed by the Israeli military and obstruction by violent extremists”[s] Supply of humanitarian aid. “
French President Macron condemned the shooting and said civilians must be protected. He called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
“There must be an urgent investigation and accountability,” British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said in a statement. “This must never happen again.”
Cameron said Israel had an obligation to ensure “more humanitarian aid” reaches Gaza. He called on the government to open more crossings into Gaza and remove bureaucratic obstacles.
Germany’s foreign minister expressed shock at the reports.
Annalena Baerbock said on Friday that “the Israeli army must fully explain how the mass panic and shootings occurred.” She also called for a ceasefire to avoid loss of civilian lives and the hostages held by Hamas. Release aid can be distributed safely.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she was “deeply disturbed by the images coming out of Gaza” and posted on X that every effort must be made to investigate what happened.
Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan condemned Israeli forces for firing on Palestinians waiting to deliver aid.
Turkey’s foreign ministry accused Israel of “using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza” and said Thursday’s incident was “yet another crime against humanity”.
Biden expressed concern on Thursday that the deadly convoy incident could harm ongoing talks to free the remaining hostages held by Hamas and achieve a six-week ceasefire.
The latest violence brings the Palestinian death toll in the nearly five-month war to more than 30,000, with another 71,000 injured and many more missing under the rubble, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry.
Hunger in Gaza
There is also growing anger over the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people struggling to survive in northern Gaza.
Residents in northern Gaza say they are scrambling among piles of rubble and garbage to find anything to feed their children, who barely get a meal a day. Many households have begun baking bread by mixing animal and bird food with grains. International aid officials say they are experiencing catastrophic hunger.
The World Health Organization says at least 10 children have died of starvation, according to hospital records in Gaza.
“We are starving to death,” said Soad Abu Hussein, a widow and mother of five who has taken refuge in a school in Jabaliya refugee camp.
Doubts about ceasefire
An Israeli airstrike hit a tent in Rafah on Saturday, killing at least 11 Palestinians as they sought asylum, the Gaza Strip’s health ministry said, amid doubts about the resumption of ceasefire talks set to resume in Egypt on Sunday. , to avoid Israeli military attacks. .
Gaza’s health ministry said another 50 people were injured in an attack near a hospital in the Sudan area of Rafatar. One of the deceased was a doctor at the hospital. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“The attack hit directly a tent where people were taking shelter. Shrapnel entered the hospital where my friends and I were. Miraculously we survived,” an unnamed witness told Reuters by phone.
The Israeli military said its forces killed eight militants in Khan Younis, about 20 militants in the central Gaza Strip, and three more militants in Rimal, near Gaza City.
More than one million Palestinians have been seeking asylum in the Rafah area.
Biden said he hopes to achieve a ceasefire before the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which begins on March 10. “We’re not there yet,” he told reporters Friday.
Israel launched an offensive in response to the terrorist attack launched by the Palestinian armed group on October 7. According to Israeli statistics, the attack resulted in the death of 1,200 people in Israel and the kidnapping of 253 people.
VOA’s United Nations correspondent Margaret Beshear contributed to this report. Some information provided by The Associated Press, AFP and Reuters.
Follow us on Google news ,Twitter , and Join Whatsapp Group of thelocalreport.in
