The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released aerial footage Thursday of a stampede in northern Gaza in which Palestinians mobbed aid trucks, resulting in dozens being killed in the ensuing chaos, as Hamas accused Israel of a “massacre.”
The incident highlighted the desperation and lawlessness in Gaza, though Hamas has continued to reject terms for a temporary ceasefire, saying that it would not release more Israeli hostages unless Israel ends the war and leaves Gaza.
תיעוד אווירי של המבצע להכנסת סיוע הומניטארי לצפון רצועת עזה, המראה כיצד ההמון פלסטיני התנפל על המשאיות וכתוצאה מכך נהרגו עשרות מצפיפות, דוחק ודריסה>> pic.twitter.com/a7DqU9kKFB
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) February 29, 2024
The Jerusalem Post reported:
The picture is still far from clear, but according to the IDF, the vast majority of Palestinians were killed while trampling each other to get to around 30 aid trucks around 4:00 a.m.
…A second incident occurred a short time later at another spot at El-Nabusi Square, where unidentified armed Palestinians fired on the trucks and stole supplies.
It was unclear who or how many people may have been injured at this stage, but IDF forces did not fire on anyone.
In a third incident, the Post reported, a group of civilians who swarmed the trucks also surprised a group of Israeli combat soldiers nearby, ignoring warning shots, causing the soldiers to feel threatened. “During this incident, an estimated 10 Palestinians were killed. It was unclear if these Palestinians had aggressive intentions or were civilians caught up in a chaotic moment.”
The IDF confirmed that 10 of the dead were killed by Israeli fire, according to the Times of Israel. While Hamas blamed Israel, far-right national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir said that the event showed the danger of Israel continuing to provide humanitarian aid to enemy civilians — a situation virtually unprecedented in any conflict in history.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
