Details: Attack on food queue - over 70 dead

The war between Israel and Hamas 

 

Details: Widespread attack on Palestinians who were waiting for food 

 

Nivette Dawod  

 

Updated 12.39 | Published 10.21  

 

A large number of Palestinians in Gaza who were waiting for food were reportedly attacked by Israeli military. 

  

Several media reports that many have been killed and injured. 

  

Quick version 

• Israeli military reportedly attacked Palestinians waiting for food deliveries in Gaza, killing over 70 and injuring more than 250 on Thursday morning.
• Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry describes the incident as a "horrible massacre".
•  This brings the death toll to over 30,000 Palestinians in Israel's war against Hamas since October 7, and renewed calls for a ceasefire. 
  

There are several reports that a large number of Palestinians who were waiting for aid shipments with, among other things, food in southwestern Gaza City were attacked by the Israeli military during Thursday morning.  

 

Al Jazeera writes that at least 77 people are believed to have been killed in the attacks, and that around 250 were injured, and refers to information from Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.  

 

- We went there to get flour. The Israeli army fired at us, a witness told the TV channel.  

 

"Horrible massacre" 

 

The Ministry of Health describes the incident as a "horrible massacre" carried out by the Israeli military.  

The AP news agency reports that many of the dead and wounded were taken to al-Shifa hospital, which is Gaza's largest, in Gaza City.  

 

Jadallah al-Shafei, head of the nurses at al-Shifa, says according to Al Jazeera that "the situation cannot be described in words". He also describes that the majority of victims have gunshot wounds and shrapnel wounds to the head or upper body.  

 

- We hope that we will be able to provide life-saving help to the injured. All are in critical condition, lying on the floor. We stand helpless in the midst of this lack of supplies and personnel. 

 

Fares Afana, head of the ambulance service at the Kamal Adwan hospital north of Gaza City, says according to AP that the paramedics who arrived at the scene found "dozens or hundreds" of people on the ground. He also says that there are not enough ambulances for all those killed and injured, and that some have therefore been taken to hospital on donkey carts. 

Det kommer flera rapporter om att ett stort antal palestinier som väntat på hjälpsändningar med bland annat mat i sydvästra Gaza City attackerats av israelisk militär under torsdagsförmiddagen.

Al Jazeera skriver att minst 77 personer tros ha dödats i attackerna, och att omkring 250 skadats, och hänvisar till uppgifter från Gazas Hamasstyrda hälsodepartement.

– Vi gick dit för att få mjöl. Israeliska armén sköt mot oss, säger ett vittne till tv-kanalen.

Does not work  

 

The head of the nearby al-Awda hospital, Mohammad Salha, told the same news agency that at least 90 wounded and three dead were taken there, but that the majority had been sent on to the Kamal Adwan hospital because al-Awda hospital is no longer functioning. 

 

The hospital will soon run out of electricity, and there is no new supply for generators and the like, as a result of the strict Israeli blockade on Gaza.  

 

- We expect an increase in the number of people killed. Several of the injured are still in the reception or in the emergency room, Salha told AP. 

 

Israel's military has stated in a comment that it is investigating the data.  

 

Over 30,000 killed  

 

The increased death toll after this morning's event also means that another grim milestone has been passed: Over 30,000 Palestinians are now estimated to have been killed during Israel's war against Hamas, which began after Hamas' terrorist attacks on the country on October 7. 

 

The Hamas government in Gaza calls the attack an "exceptional war crime" and states in a statement:  

 

"We hold the US government, the international community, the Israeli occupation and international organizations responsible for the killing of civilians while they are being starved by the Israeli occupying power." 

 

You also write: 

 

"We appeal to all countries of the world, to Arab and Muslim countries, to the Arab League and to the Organization of the Islamic Conference to immediately intervene and pressure the Israeli occupying power to stop this genocidal war against our people in the Gaza Strip". The wait for aid in Gaza at the end of February. 

 

  

  

1 / 2Photo: Fatima Shbair / AP

 

 

FACTS  

Background  

More than four months have passed since October 7, when Hamas attacked Israel in what is being called the worst massacre of Jews in modern times.  

 

Over 1,100 people, mainly Israelis, were killed and 240 people were kidnapped. Over 130 of them are still believed to be with Hamas in Gaza.  

 

The military invasion that Israel launched shortly afterwards against the Gaza Strip - with the aim of exterminating Hamas and bringing back the hostages - has been very bloody. By Palestinians it is called a new Nakba, catastrophe, just like the expulsion of Palestinians that took place in 1948 when the state of Israel was established.  

 

According to the Hamas-controlled health department in Gaza, over 30,000 Palestinians are estimated to have been killed by Israeli attacks, the majority of them women and children. Over 70,000 have been injured.