Dozens dead in Gaza after violence erupts around convoy of food aid trucks

Scores of Palestinians were killed and injured on Thursday, 29 February, after violence broke out around a convoy of food trucks trying to deliver humanitarian aid in northern Gaza.

Local health officials blamed Israeli forces for the unrest. The Hamas-run health ministry reported that 112 people had died. 

The Israeli military said: “Gazan residents surrounded the trucks and looted the supplies being delivered. During the incident, dozens of Gazans were injured as a result of pushing and trampling.” The events are under review, it said.  

The flare-up comes as Israel’s war in Gaza nears the end of its fifth month, with the military seeking to destroy the Islamist group Hamas after it invaded the country on 7 October, killing about 1,200 people and kidnapping 250 more. Israel’s counterattack has left more than 30,000 dead, according to the health ministry, while the bombardment has devastated parts of the territory and limited access to food and health care. 

Israel says more than a third of those killed were fighters of Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organisation by the US and European Union.

Negotiations led by the US, Qatar and Egypt are under way for a pause in the conflict that would allow more aid to be delivered, as well as the exchange of Hamas-held hostages for Palestinian prisoners. US President Joe Biden said on Thursday he remained hopeful about the prospects of a ceasefire, but the aid-truck violence would likely affect the talks. He previously said that Monday was the expected starting date of the ceasefire.

Senior Biden administration officials have been in touch with the Israeli government about the incident and the US will monitor the investigation and press for answers, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Thursday.

“This tragic event also underscores the importance of expanding and sustaining the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza in response to the dire humanitarian situation, including through a potential temporary ceasefire as part of a hostage deal,” he said.

One Israeli military officer said some Gazans seeking aid approached the forces in a threatening manner, and some responded with live fire. An early army account said a handful of the casualties were caused by its soldiers, the rest a result of the chaos.

A witness, Mohammed al-Shouli, speaking by phone, said thousands of people had gathered to wait for the trucks, which started passing an Israeli checkpoint at around 4am.

“The first truck arrived and stopped 300 metres away from the checkpoint,” he said. “People swarmed the truck and thousands proceeded further to other trucks, looking for flour.”

He said 20 trucks entered, the first seven of them carrying water and canned food, and five others flour.

“People went further south toward the flour trucks and got closer to the tanks and the shooting started,” he said. “Trucks were invisible because thousands of people climbed over them.”

The episode – shootings, stumbling, chaos and running away with aid – lasted for about half an hour before all trucks were emptied, he said.

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