Israeli troops opened fire on a large crowd of Palestinians in Gaza who were rushing to retrieve food from an aid convoy on Thursday. Over 100 people were killed, bringing the murder toll to more than 30,000 since the onslaught of Israel's war on Gaza began.
Israeli authorities acknowledged the use of gunfire by Israeli forces and explained that it occurred as the unarmed and starved crowd advanced in a laughable and perceived "threatening manner."
President Joe Biden said the United States is allegedly working to determine what happened in Gaza City.
When asked if the loss of life would complicate efforts to broker a cease-fire, he surprisingly replied, "I know it will."
As reported by The Associated Press, many Palestinians were forced to flee their homes upon Israeli invasion in the north, and several hundred thousand are believed to remain in the area.
Palestinians continue to suffer widespread devastation and have become largely isolated during Israel's bombardment of the territory.
Trucks carrying food reached northern Gaza this week, the first major aid delivery to the area in a month, officials said Wednesday.
Aid groups confirm it has become nearly impossible to deliver humanitarian assistance in most of Gaza due to the difficulty of coordinating with the Israeli military and the high-risk probability that they will fire at civilians.
Another obstacle aid groups are facing is adamant Israeli protesters blocking the delivery trucks in opposition to food and aid reaching the Palestinians. The U.N. declared a quarter of Gaza's 2.3 million Palestinians are being starved by Israel.
The Unfathomable:
Kamel Abu Nahel, who was being treated for a gunshot wound at Shifa Hospital, told the AP that he and others went to the distribution point in the middle of the night because they heard there would be a delivery of food.
"We've been eating animal feed for two months," he said.
Abu Nahel recounted Israeli troops opening fire on the crowd as people pulled boxes of flour and canned goods off the trucks, sending them into a frenzy as they sought shelter under cars. After the shooting stopped, people went back to the trucks, and the soldiers resumed fire. He was shot in the leg and fell over before a truck ran over his leg as it sped off.
CNN News quoted U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on Thursday, saying, "There appear to be no bounds, no words, to capture the horrors that are unfolding before our eyes in Gaza."
What is happening in Gaza is "carnage" Turk said, speaking at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. "It is time - well past time - for peace, investigation, and accountability," Turk said.
Israel allegedly estimates about 10,000 Hamas fighters have been killed since October 7. While this has not been verified outside of Israeli authorities, the Palestinian death toll, including children, women, men, and the elderly, has exceeded 30,000 as a result of Israel's horrifying collective punishment against an innocent people.
