Brazil spoke out, this Friday (1st), calling the deaths of civilians while trying to get food from a humanitarian aid convoy in Gaza a “massacre”, and harshly criticized the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu.
At least 112 people were killed and hundreds injured in Gaza after Israeli forces opened fire as Palestinian civilians waited for food, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza.
The Israeli military and eyewitnesses gave contradictory accounts of events on the ground.
In a statement released this Friday, Itamaraty stated that “this is an intolerable situation, which goes far beyond the necessary determination of responsibility for yesterday's deaths and injuries”.
The Brazilian government points out that the crowds around the aid convoy “demonstrate the desperate situation to which the civilian population of the Gaza Strip is subjected and the difficulties in obtaining food in the territory”.
UN authorities and experts in humanitarian aid and health assistance from different organizations and entities have been denouncing for months the systematic retention of trucks on the borders with Gaza and the growing situation of hunger, thirst and despair among the civilian population. Still, the international community's inaction in the face of this humanitarian tragedy continues to serve as a veiled incentive for the Netanyahu government to continue targeting innocent civilians and ignoring basic rules of international humanitarian law. Cynical and offensive statements to the victims of the incident, made hours later by a senior official in the Netanyahu government, should be the final straw for anyone who truly believes in the value of human life.
Itamaraty, in a statement
In direct criticism of the Israeli prime minister, Itamaraty also stated that the Israeli government “has once again shown, through actions and statements, that military action in Gaza has no ethical or legal limits”.
Brazil calls on the international community to “put an end to it” and avoid further atrocities. “With every day of hesitation, more innocent people will die. Humanity is failing the civilians of Gaza. And it is time to prevent new massacres,” the statement added.
Finally, Itamaraty expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people, recalled the more than 30,000 deaths in Gaza since the start of the conflict, and reiterated “the absolute urgency of a ceasefire and the effective entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza in adequate quantities, as well as the release of all hostages.”
Read the full statement from Itamaraty at the end of the article.
What happened in Gaza
One of the worst tragedies to occur during Israel's war with Hamas occurred on Thursday (29), when dozens of Palestinians were killed trying to obtain food aid in Gaza City.
More than 100 people were killed and more than 700 were injured in a case in which Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops used live fire while hungry and desperate Palestinian civilians gathered around food aid trucks, according to the Ministry of Palestinian Health in Gaza.
A CNN cannot independently confirm these numbers.
The case occurred in a context of great hunger and extreme poverty in the Palestinian territory, where food aid has been so rare that it often provokes panic when it arrives.
But there are discordant narratives surrounding the devastation that have been presented by Israel and eyewitnesses on the ground.
The deaths occurred amid scenes of chaos on Haroun Al Rasheed Street in western Gaza City, where crowds of hungry Palestinians had gathered to receive food aid.
A convoy of at least 18 trucks arrived at around 4:30 a.m. on Thursday, sent from countries in the region including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, according to eyewitnesses.
Civilians surrounded the newly arrived aid trucks in hopes of getting food, and Israeli forces soon began shooting, witnesses said.
Aid trucks attempted to escape the area, accidentally running over others and causing more deaths and injuries, witnesses added to the news release. CNN .
Ambulances struggled to reach those in need because rubble blocked the way, one such witness, Ahmad Abu Al Foul, told CNN .
Most of the victims died after being run over by aid trucks trying to escape Israeli fire, according to a local journalist in Gaza, Khader Al Za'anoun.
Al Za'anoun, who was at the scene and witnessed what happened, said that although there were large crowds waiting for food to be distributed by aid trucks, the chaos and confusion that led to people being run over by the vehicles only began when Israeli soldiers opened fire.
“Most of the people killed were run over by aid trucks during the chaos and while trying to escape Israeli gunfire,” Al Za'anoun said.
What does Israel claim?
Israel offered accounts of the case as the day progressed.
In its first comments, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that the incident began when Palestinians tried to loot the trucks.
“This morning, during the entry of humanitarian aid trucks into the north of the Gaza Strip, Gazans surrounded the vehicles and looted the delivered supplies. During the incident, dozens of Gaza residents were injured as a result of pushing and being run over,” the IDF told CNN .
Later on Thursday, an Israeli military spokesman stated in a briefing that there were two separate cases involving humanitarian aid trucks in Gaza on Thursday.
First, he said that trucks entered northern Gaza and were attacked by crowds, and the vehicles ran over people. Later, he said, a group of Palestinians approached Israeli forces, who in turn opened fire on them.
“The trucks went north, then there was the stampede and then there was the event against our forces. That’s how things went this morning,” the spokesperson said.
This chronology directly contradicts eyewitness accounts, which suggested that the Israeli military opened fire on people near the trucks, causing the drivers to turn away in panic.
At a press conference on Thursday, IDF spokesman Daniel Hargari denied that there had been an attack on the convoy. He said Israeli tanks fired warning shots to disperse a crowd around an aid convoy in Gaza after seeing that people were being trampled.
He insisted that the tanks were there “to protect the humanitarian corridor” so that the aid convoy could reach its destination.
The IDF released a short video that appears to show a tank driving parallel to the crowd, several meters away.
“As you can see in this video, the tanks that were there to protect the convoy see Gazans being trampled and cautiously try to disperse the crowd with some warning shots,” Hagari said.
When the crowd began to grow and “things got out of control,” the tank retreated to avoid harming Gazans, he added.
“I think as military personnel they were retreating safely, risking their own lives, and not shooting into the crowd,” he said.
Read the full statement from Itamaraty about what happened
“The Brazilian Government learned, with deep consternation, of the gunshots by Israeli forces that occurred yesterday, in the North of the Gaza Strip, in a place where Palestinians were waiting to receive humanitarian aid.
At the time, more than 100 people were killed and more than 750 injured by gunshots, trampling or being run over.
The crowds around the trucks transporting humanitarian aid demonstrate the desperate situation to which the civilian population of the Gaza Strip is subjected and the difficulties in obtaining food in the territory.
This is an intolerable situation, which goes far beyond the necessary determination of responsibility for yesterday's deaths and injuries.
UN authorities and experts in humanitarian aid and health assistance from different organizations and entities have been denouncing for months the systematic retention of trucks on the borders with Gaza and the growing situation of hunger, thirst and despair among the civilian population.
Still, the international community's inaction in the face of this humanitarian tragedy continues to serve as a veiled incentive for the Netanyahu government to continue targeting innocent civilians and ignoring basic rules of international humanitarian law.
Cynical and offensive statements to the victims of the incident, made hours later by a senior official in the Netanyahu government, should be the final straw for anyone who truly believes in the value of human life.
The Netanyahu government once again shows, through actions and statements, that military action in Gaza has no ethical or legal limits.
And it is up to the international community to stop and, only then, avoid new atrocities. With every day of hesitation, more innocent people will die.
Humanity is failing the civilians of Gaza. And it's time to avoid new massacres.
By expressing its solidarity with the Palestinian people, especially with the families of the victims, Brazil reaffirms its firm repudiation of any and all military actions against civilian targets, especially those linked to the provision of humanitarian aid and medical assistance.
Today's massacre adds to the more than 30,000 deaths of Palestinian civilians, of which more than 12,000 are children, recorded since the beginning of the conflict, in addition to the more than 1.7 million Palestinians who are victims of forced displacement.
Brazil reiterates the absolute urgency of a ceasefire and the effective entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza in adequate quantities, as well as the release of all hostages.
The Brazilian Government recalls the mandatory implementation of the precautionary measures issued by the International Court of Justice, on January 26, which require Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent the practice of all acts considered as genocide, in accordance with Article II of the Convention on the Prevention, Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.”
Source: CNN Brasil
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