Health officials in the territory stated that since the commencement of Israel's war on Hamas nearly five months ago, more than 30,000 Palestinians have lost their lives, and over 70,000 have sustained injuries in the Gaza Strip.
According to Palestinian witnesses and Gaza's Health Ministry, Israeli troops reportedly fired on a crowd of people seeking aid in Gaza City on Thursday. The incident resulted in the deaths of over 100 individuals and left at least 700 others wounded.
Israel claimed that many of the fatalities occurred due to a chaotic stampede for food aid, resulting in individuals being trampled. They further asserted that their troops only resorted to firing when they perceived themselves to be endangered by the crowd.
Israel's conflict with Hamas has led to a severe humanitarian crisis across the Gaza Strip, causing extensive damage particularly in northern regions such as Gaza City. These areas face significant isolation from the rest of the territory, with limited humanitarian aid access.
The United Nations reports that a quarter of Gaza's 2.3 million Palestinians are at risk of starvation, with approximately 80% having been displaced from their homes.
Israel's conflict with Hamas evokes painful memories for the Argentine Jewish community, lingering long after the 1994 bombing.
Here’s the latest:
U.N. COUNCIL DOESN’T AGREE ON STATEMENT BLAMING ISRAEL FOR GAZA CITY DEATHS
At the United Nations, Arab nations faced a setback in obtaining immediate backing for a U.N. Security Council statement that sought to attribute responsibility to Israeli forces for firing upon Palestinians as they awaited the delivery of food and other humanitarian assistance near Gaza City. This resulted in the deaths of over 100 individuals.
Witnesses reported that Israeli troops opened fire on a large crowd of Palestinians rushing to retrieve food from an aid convoy on Thursday. The ensuing chaos resulted in the death of more than 100 individuals, bringing the death toll since the onset of the Israel-Hamas conflict to over 30,000, as stated by the Gaza Health Ministry.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations, informed reporters following an emergency closed-door meeting of the council on Thursday evening that 14 out of the 15 council members endorsed the statement proposed by Algeria, the Arab representative on the council.
The United States did not lend support to the statement. U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood explained to a reporter who inquired about the reason, stating, "We don’t have all the facts on the ground – that’s the problem."
He stated that there are conflicting reports, and the U.S. is endeavoring to collect all available facts, including details regarding the "circumstances around how people died," which is a crucial matter
Wood mentioned that diplomats were actively engaged in efforts "to see if we can find some language that everyone can agree on," highlighting that an agreement could potentially be reached on Thursday night or might not materialize at all.
The Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations asserted that Israel intentionally fired at individuals during the violence surrounding the aid convoy.
At the United Nations, the Palestinian ambassador accused Israel of deliberately and systematically targeting a humanitarian convoy. According to his information, he claimed that dozens of the 112 Palestinians killed were shot in the head.
Riyad Mansour informed reporters prior to a closed emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council late Thursday afternoon that, based on his information, trucks carrying humanitarian supplies such as flour, sugar, and other essential items regularly journeyed to the same location in northern Gaza every few days to provide crucial assistance to Palestinians in dire need.
He mentioned that the trucks had carried out the same operation earlier on Thursday, with thousands of Palestinians present. "And then all of a sudden, the Israeli army started firing at them and shooting, and according to the information that we have, dozens of them have bullets in their heads," he said. It's important to note that there has been no independent confirmation of this claim.
"It’s not like, you know, firing in the sky to restrain people if there was confusion and chaos," Mansour remarked. "It was intentionally targeting and killing, and the number that we have now is 112 have been killed and the number is increasing, and 750 injured, and possibly the number would be increasing."
Mansour stated that he met with U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield and urged her to support a U.N. Security Council statement condemning the killings and calling for those responsible to be identified and held accountable.
The United Nations chief expressed shock at the death toll in Gaza and the killings near the aid truck.
The spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated that he is "appalled" by the death toll of 30,000 people in the Gaza war and condemned the killing of over a hundred individuals seeking life-saving aid on Thursday.
Witnesses reported that Israeli troops fired on a large crowd of Palestinians who were rushing to retrieve food from an aid convoy in Gaza City on Thursday. The Gaza Health Ministry stated that more than 100 people were killed in the ensuing chaos.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric informed reporters that the convoy in question was not affiliated with the UN, stating that "there was no UN presence there." He emphasized that the UN is actively working to ascertain the facts surrounding the incident.
"These people died because humanitarian aid has not been able to be delivered in a safe manner," Dujarric remarked. Whether they died or were wounded by Israeli gunfire, were crushed by a crowd, or run over by trucks, "these are all acts of violence in a sense due to this conflict."
Dujarric mentioned that the United Nations has been unable to deliver aid to northern Gaza for over a week due to the ongoing conflict and the lack of safety for humanitarian staff and the people in need of aid.
We want to see an immediate humanitarian cease-fire so that we can distribute aid in an organized, predictable, and safe manner, which is currently not an option for us," he stated.
Guterres reiterated his plea for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the release of all hostages captured during the October 7th attack by Hamas in southern Israel, according to Dujarric.
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