At least 20 people were killed and more than 100 injured while waiting for food aid in Gaza City on Thursday night, according to the Gazan Ministry of Health (MoH). Graphic footage from the immediate aftermath of the scene filed by an eyewitness showed multiple bodies with traumatic injuries as well as pools of blood on a street strewn with rubble and dust.
Grieving family members bid a final farewell to their loved ones at the yard of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah, victims of the Israeli deadly war in Gaza, Tuesday, March 12, 2024 (Photo: WAFA)
The MoH said the incident was “a result of the Israeli occupation forces targeting a gathering of citizens waiting for humanitarian aid to satisfy their thirst at the Kuwaiti roundabout in Gaza.” “Medical teams are unable to deal with the volume and type of injuries reaching hospitals in northern Gaza due to weak medical and human capabilities,” the ministry said. The Israeli occupation forces denied it was responsible for the attack, in a short statement to CNN on Friday.
The incident at the Kuwaiti Roundabout followed earlier violence at the same site on Wednesday, March 13, where large crowds were waiting for a food distribution. At least seven people were killed and 86 others injured after Israeli troops opened fire, according to health official and eyewitness.
The Kuwait roundabout in Gaza City is the site designated for the delivery of UN aid destined to the northern Gaza Strip, subject to the approval of the Israeli occupation authorities. In recent weeks, the venue has seen repeated massacres perpetrated by the Israeli occupation forces against Palestinians waiting for the arrival of aid trucks. The northern Gaza region, which includes Gaza City and the North Gaza province, has been under tight Israeli blockade since the outbreak of the ongoing Israeli deadly war on the Strip, pushing the region’s nearly 700,000 Palestinian citizens to the verge of famine.
Also, on Wednesday up to six people, including an UNRWA staff member, were reported killed and 22 others injured by an Israeli strike on an UNRWA facility in Rafah, which serves as both a warehouse and a distribution centre. One of the fatalities is believed to be a Hamas commander, who the Israeli military says was “precisely targeted” in a strike in Rafah on 13 March.
According to UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, the strike affected “one of the very few remaining UNRWA distribution centers in the Gaza Strip … as food supplies are running out, hunger is widespread and, in some areas, turning into famine.” The Commissioner-General said that UNRWA shares the coordinates of all its facilities in Gaza with the parties to the conflict on a daily basis and that the Israeli authorities had received the coordinates of the Rafah facility the day before it was struck.
Since the beginning of the current round of hostilities, UNRWA has recorded an “unprecedented number of violations against its staff and facilities that surpass any other conflict around the world,” with at least 165 UNRWA team members killed, more than 150 UNRWA facilities struck, and over 400 internally displaced persons killed while seeking shelter in UNRWA facilities. Between 7 October 2023 and 14 March 2024, at least 31,341 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 73,134 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
On Wednesday, twelve of Israel’s most prominent human rights organizations have signed an open letter accusing the far-right government of failing to comply with the international court of justice’s (ICJ) provisional ruling that it should facilitate access of humanitarian aid into Gaza. The court in The Hague made a number of legal requirements of Israel when it issued a provisional ruling in late January in response to South Africa’s complaint accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
In their letter, the rights groups say Israel was legally obliged to implement the measures ordered by the court but had so far failed to do so. Signatories to the letter include the military whistleblower group Breaking the Silence, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights, Combatants for Peace, Emek Shaveh, Gisha – Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, HaMoked: Center for the Defense of the Individual, Ir Amim, Physicians for Human Rights, Torat Tzedek, Yesh Din and the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel.
“The ICJ order is a legal obligation to end the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. It must be abided by, not only to ease the urgent suffering of civilians but for the sake of humanity as a whole,” the letter says. It also notes that the ICJ urged Hamas to immediately and unconditionally release all Israeli hostages.
“As members of Israel-based civil society committed to human rights and the rule of law, we condemn the fact that Israel has so far failed to change its behavior based on the measures imposed by the ICJ, as well as the fact that humanitarian aid to Gaza dropped by 50% in the month following the ruling,” the letter says. “We call for an immediate ceasefire, which must include the return of the hostages. We urge the Israeli government to comply with the ICJ order and implement the court’s provisional measures, which are essential to mitigating and overcoming the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Moreover, we call on the international community to use its collective influence to promote and support an immediate ceasefire and the implementation of the provisional measures, and to increase its efforts to ensure that the Israeli hostages are returned from Gaza.”
The letter emerged as the UN secretary general, António Guterres, repeated his call for a truce in the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. He asked for the release of hostages held by Hamas and the removal of “all obstacles to ensure the delivery of lifesaving aid at the speed and massive scale required” to Gaza, where the UN has warned that a quarter of the population are on the brink of famine.
Two weeks ago, Amnesty International warned Israel’s failure to allow access for humanitarian aid came at a time when the population was on the “brink of famine”. “Not only has Israel created one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, but it is also displaying a callous indifference to the fate of Gaza’s population by creating conditions which the ICJ has said places them at imminent risk of genocide,” said Heba Morayef, the regional director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.
Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=31642
