Israeli military review of Gaza aid convoy deaths finds most killed in stampede By Reuters

© Reuters. Palestinians who had been wounded in Israeli fireplace whereas ready for support, in line with well being officers, lie on beds at Al Shifa hospital, amid the continuing battle between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza Metropolis, March 1, 2024. REUTERS/Kosay Al Nemer

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel’s army stated on Sunday a lot of the Palestinians killed final week as crowds massed close to an support convoy in Gaza died in a stampede however native well being officers stated casualties introduced into hospitals had been hit by massive calibre ammunition.

Stress has mounted on Israel over the deaths of dozens of Palestinians throughout a confused incident within the Gaza Strip on Thursday wherein crowds surrounded a convoy of support vans and troopers opened fireplace, with a number of international locations backing a U.N. name for an inquiry.

Palestinian well being officers say greater than 100 folks had been killed within the incident within the early hours of the morning, most of them shot by Israeli troops. Israeli officers have dismissed the figures given by the Palestinians however haven’t supplied any estimates of their very own.

On Sunday, Israel’s predominant army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari introduced the results of a preliminary evaluation which repeated earlier Israeli statements that almost all of these killed had been trampled underfoot as crowds rushed the help vans.

As well as “a number of people” had been hit as troops fired on individuals who approached them within the aftermath in a fashion that advised a direct menace, he stated, including that an unbiased inquiry had been opened however giving no particulars.

Muatasem Salah, a member of the Emergency Committee on the Ministry of Well being in Gaza, stated there have been greater than 1,000 casualties, useless and wounded, from the incident and he dismissed the findings of the Israeli evaluation.

“Any try to say that folks had been martyred on account of overcrowding or being run over is inaccurate. The wounded and martyrs are the results of being shot with heavy-calibre bullets,” he informed Reuters.

A lot of Israel’s closest allies, together with the USA, have referred to as for an inquiry into the incident, which underscored the dire humanitarian disaster in Gaza and the more and more chaotic circumstances wherein the small quantity of support reaching the enclave is being distributed.

Worldwide support organizations have warned that a whole bunch of hundreds of individuals in Gaza are going through the specter of famine, some 5 months after Israeli troops launched their invasion following the Hamas-led assault on Israel on Oct. 7.

The assault, which killed some 1,200 Israelis and foreigners, was the deadliest single-day incident in Israel’s 75 12 months historical past and Israel has responded with a relentless assault that has to this point killed greater than 30,000 Palestinians, in line with Palestinian figures.

Because the diplomatic fallout unfold, the army stated it had launched a extra thorough examination of the incident to be dealt with by “an unbiased, skilled and skilled physique” which can share its findings as early as within the coming days.

Hagari’s remarks advised that a few of the useless had been killed by Israeli fireplace after troopers fired preliminary warning photographs however he gave no particulars or figures.

“Following the warning photographs fired to disperse the stampede and after our forces had began retreating, a number of looters approached our forces and posed a direct menace to them. In line with the preliminary evaluation, the troopers responded towards a number of people,” he stated.