International leaders have called for an investigation into the deaths of dozens of Palestinians who converged on an aid truck on Thursday.
Details of what exactly happened remain unclear as Hamas and Israeli officials offered differing accounts.
Thousands of Palestinian civilians descended upon the convoy carrying humanitarian aid into northern Gaza on Thursday morning. Palestinian authorities, which are controlled by Hamas, have accused Israeli forces of firing upon the civilians who swarmed the truck, while Israeli authorities have alleged that many of the Palestinians who were killed had died during a stampede to the trucks. There are reports that over a hundred people were killed.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the deadly incident and said it could require an independent investigation, while other foreign leaders shared that sentiment. French Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Séjourné said they would support the U.N.’s call, and the ministry added in a statement that France is “waiting for all light to be shed on the acts mentioned, which are very serious.”
“People wanted supplies for themselves and their families and died. I am devastated by the reports from Gaza,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wrote on X on Friday. “The Israeli army must fully investigate how the mass panic and the shooting happened.”
White House deputy spokeswoman Olivia Dalton told reporters on Thursday that the incident “needs to be thoroughly investigated,” and she added, “We’ve been in touch with the government of Israel this morning about — to gather information and to request that they investigate and provide more information about the circumstances that led to this tragedy.”
International leaders have said the chaos that ensued surrounding the aid truck highlights the desperate and dire circumstances Palestinians in Gaza are facing after nearly five months of war. An overwhelming majority of Gazans have been displaced from their homes, while international aid organizations have warned about the growing possibility of widespread famine and starvation throughout the strip due to the lack of humanitarian aid.
“We also think that this event underscores the need for expanded humanitarian aid to make its way into Gaza,” Dalton noted.
President Joe Biden spoke about the incident during a conversation with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi on Thursday.
“They also discussed the tragic and alarming incident earlier today in northern Gaza,” a readout from the White House said of their call. “Both leaders grieved the loss of civilian lives and agreed that this incident underscored the urgency of bringing negotiations to a close as soon as possible and expanding the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza.”
The United States didn’t support a statement proposed by Algeria that would’ve come from the United Nations Security Council that would’ve blamed Israeli forces for allegedly opening fire at the Palestinian civilians, according to the Associated Press.
The Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry now reports that more than 30,000 people have been killed during the war, though that total does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. Israeli officials said this week that around 13,000 Hamas militants have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war.
The U.S. is one of a handful of countries involved in efforts to get Israel and Hamas to agree to another temporary ceasefire, though there are still hurdles they need to overcome for a new agreement. The U.S. is hoping both sides will agree to a six-week ceasefire that would include the release of the remaining Israeli hostages, who have been held hostage since Oct. 7, and the surge of humanitarian aid into the strip.
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Israel has said it intends to carry out military operations in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians have sought refuge due to earlier Israeli military operations. Israeli officials have said they need to carry out operations in this city to complete its war efforts against Hamas, as their operations started in the northern part of the strip and moved south because Hamas traveled with civilians to insulate themselves.
International leaders, including Biden, have said full-scale operations in Rafah could result in staggering numbers of civilian casualties unless Israel effectively accounts for them, though it’s unclear how they would do that.
