Dying because of some flour

Translated by Angela Tagliafierro

On February 29^th, some Israeli tanks are believed to have opened the fire on civilians waiting to receive a humanitarian aid by some lorries. Hamas and Israel versions differ. Hence, the investigations are ongoing to shed light on the facts.

Between the two arguers, civilians pay the price, like in every war. The death toll is tragic: it is estimated that 115 Palestinians were killed and 760 wounded; the situation is serious. Opening the fire on the civil and humanitarian convoys waiting to receive help is a violation of the International Law. The umpteenth violation the world is staring at.

It is quite evident how, upon the arrival of trucks carrying food aid, a starving and exhausted population rushes towards them, creating a crowd of significant size. Could they have been a threat? Possibly not. What about a target? Of course. Such a big red Palestinian point to aim at for the Israeli army.

Israel's statements paint a very different picture than one might think. The Israeli leaders declared that some people died because of the crowd, others were run over by the lorries of the humanitarian aid. The rear admiral Daniel Hagari affirmed that “dozens of residents in Gaza were killed because of the crowd and the Palestinian lorries unfortunately ran over them while they were trying to escape”. Dozens of residents. Unfortunately.

Peter Lerner, the Israeli military spokesperson, explained that there have been two accidents, not related. On one hand, the civilians died because of the crowds surrounding the humanitarian convoys; on the other hand, dozens of people gathered around the stationing. After some warning shot in the air, the army shot towards those who did not want to go away.

Hence, Israel denies its fault, indirectly blaming the Palestinians who gathered. However, the director of Gaza Hospital where most of the wounded people were brought to, Mohammed Salha, stated that at least 80% of them had gunshot wounds. Out of 176 wounded people, 142 had gunshot wounds. At least for the majority of them, they did not show crush injuries.

What happened on February 29^th, according to Ben Gvir’s declarations, “proved that the transportation of humanitarian aids to Gaza is not only a crazy thing, but it also harms the soldiers of the army. The accident is one more reason to stop these aids.”

The international community has not been defenceless in the face of one more massacre of civilians. However, the reactions were quite mixed. On one side, the United States exercised its veto on a UN resolution condemning Israel. On the other side, the UK asked for an investigation, as well as France asked for an independent enquiry to clarify the circumstances of this massacre. In addition, some European leaders have taken a clear position on the incident. The French president Macron declared that “the civilians were targeted by the Israeli soldiers”. He was joined by the German Minister for the Foreign Affairs, Annalena Baerbock, who asked for some explanations to the Israeli army.

Hence, only some members of the international community aim to guarantee transparency on the facts. Obviously, it seems to be secondary how we arrived at this point. The demands for a cease-fire are still increasing. However, this massacred is feared to compromise every attempt for a negotiation.

If the investigations confirmed that the Israeli army truly opened the fire on civilians queuing for some food, it would be more evident the tragedy which is being carried out in the Gaza Strip. As if the 30000 civil victims would not have proved it enough.

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