Israel’s Military Opened Fire On Palestinians Trying To Get Food Aid In Gaza, Killing At Least 112 People
The incident, which is now being called the Flour Massacre, pushed the number of Palestinians killed by Israel in Gaza since Oct. 7 to over 30,000.
Israel’s military opened fire on Palestinians trying to get food aid in Gaza, killing at least 112 people and injured more than 750 others .
Since Oct. 7, Israel’s relentless bombardment and blockade has pushed people in Gaza to the brink of famine.
North Gaza has not received any food deliveries for over a month, and people had been sleeping in the streets waiting for aid to arrive.
So when a convoy of aid trucks arrived at around 4:30 am local time on Thursday Feb. 29, people gathered to get the much-needed flour to feed their families.
But when they approached the aid trucks, Israeli soldiers in warplanes and tanks started firing on them.
Witnesses told Al Jazeera that afterwards, Israeli forces ran their tanks over several dead and injured people.
Videos and photos on social media showed food aid packages covered in blood and wounded people being taken to hospital on donkey carts because no ambulances could reach the area.
One of the aid trucks became a transporter for those who had been killed and injured.
The Israeli army initially denied it had opened fire on civilians, saying that Palestinians had been killed due to a stampede when the aid trucks arrived.
However, witnesses said that a stampede only broke out after Israeli force started shooting at them.
The Israeli military later changed its story and issued a statement calling the Palestinians waiting for food a “violent gathering” that made soldiers feel “unsafe”, which prompted them to open fire.
The incident, which is now being called the Flour Massacre, pushed the number of Palestinians killed by Israel in Gaza since Oct. 7 to over 30,000.
