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Authorities in Gaza say Israeli forces have committed a massacre in Gaza City, killing at least 104 Palestinians as they waited for food aid. Gaza’s Health Ministry says over 760 people were wounded in what Hamas called an “unprecedented war crime.” According to eyewitnesses, Israeli forces opened fire on the crowd who had gathered around humanitarian aid trucks. The death toll is expected to rise as hospitals in Gaza City are struggling to treat the wounded. Dr. Jadallah al-Shafei of Al-Shifa Hospital spoke to Al Jazeera shortly after the attack.
Dr. Jadallah al-Shafei: “Since the early hours of the morning, the hospital has been flooded with dozens of dead bodies and hundreds of injured. The majority of the victims suffered gunshot wounds and shrapnel in the head and upper parts of their bodies. They were hit by direct artillery shelling, drone missiles and gunfire. All our operation rooms are full, and all medical staff have been deployed. Above all, we ran out of medical supplies and fuel necessary to operate the hospital. We hope we will be able to provide any life-saving procedures to those victims. All victims are in critical condition. They’re lying on the floor. We stand helpless amid the sharp shortage of supplies and staff.”
This comes as Palestinian officials say the death toll in Gaza since October 7 has topped 30,000. The staggering milestone, which does not account for thousands still missing or trapped under rubble, represents one out of every 75 people in Gaza. The U.N. says over half a million people in Gaza are on the cusp of starvation. The Gaza Health Ministry reports six children recently died from dehydration and malnutrition. Seven other children are in critical condition. After headlines, we will speak to Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, who recently visited the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing.
If someone opens fire at people in a crowded building and causes a crowd crush that kills dozens of people, do you blame the crowd or the dude who started mowing people down? Israel murdered those people by creating that situation regardless of the precise circumstances of their deaths.
If people swarm a stadium killing hundreds in their panic do you blame the people who crushed them or the police who intervened?
There is still a timeline to work through, and the full story will take time.
Let’s start with why were all these people starving and desperate for aid?
Easy. Hamas…
Because their ruling government decided to fuck around, with support from foreign states, and now innocent civilians have to find out.
Not quite…
And it goes back awhile.
Your claim that this started with the IDF firing into the crowd around the trucks is exactly what’s being discussed here
could you explain to me how the anxious, starving crowd of people trying to reach aid “started” it?
Are you suggesting an anxious crowd couldn’t have started trampling eachother or couldn’t have caused the drivers to panic?
Are you suggesting that an anxious crowd devolving into a panic is improved by the addition of weapons fire?
If that is what happened, why would the article in the OP lie about it?
Why would you brush off these lies as unimportant?
Lie about what? Nothing in the article contradicts what I’ve said. Even if you buy the bit about Israel firing “warning shots” after the panic had already started, they still created this entire situation to begin with. They starved those people then tossed in some scraps and shot at them when they reacted pretty much exactly how any rational person would expect. It doesn’t fucking matter if most of the bodies don’t have IDF bullets lodged in them. They killed them all the same.
Above, you arrive at the suggestion that if the IDF was firing off warning shots, this could have set off a panic/stampede through the crowd and the trucks driving. but this would still mean that the IDF was largely responsible through this chain of events. Which I certainly agree with.
But the article says something completely different. It suggests the IDF waited for these victims to gather around the aid trucks and says they then opened fire on them. With artillery, drone missiles and gunfire. It mentions nothing about people being trampled or run over by trucks.
You don’t see a little bit of contradiction there?
My dude I’m not arriving at any conclusion about what specifically happened. I saying even the most favorable interpretation toward Israel is damning. It doesn’t matter when or how they shot into the crowd, the only reason a starving crowd on the edge of panic existed in the first place is because Israel created it. That, for me, is enough to lay all the deaths at their feet regardless of whether they were shot, trampled, or run over.
If you’re concerned that I might be taking Israel at their word for some reason, let me assure you: I do not buy their version of events for even a second.
And in so many more ways than that. There was a crush of people trying to “loot” food because they were starving. Which was also caused by Israel. If aid trucks were regularly coming into Gaza, they wouldn’t be dealing with desperate people when they got through.