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Global outrage over aid delivery deaths in Gaza

Wounded Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Global outrage has greeted the decision by Israeli forces to violently attack Palestinians queuing for relief aid. PHOTO BY AFP

By Barack Oduor | Saturday, March 2, 2024

At least 115 people were killed and more than 750 wounded in the attack, which occurred at the Nabulsi roundabout in Gaza City on Thursday.

Global outrage has greeted the decision by Israeli forces to violently attack Palestinians queuing for relief aid in the ongoing war it has waged against Hamas in Gaza.

At least 115 people were killed and more than 750 wounded in the attack, which occurred at the Nabulsi roundabout in Gaza City on Thursday.

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Witnesses said Israeli soldiers opened fire as people gathered for flour, while Israeli officials said their soldiers fired because they felt threatened when people stormed the aid trucks.

Reacting to the incident in a post on the social media platform X, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of a "disregard for the Nabulsi roundabout massacre" and said he was the "political face" of Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel's far-right national security minister.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the incident and was "appalled by the tragic human toll of the conflict.".

The African Union Commission, through its Chairperson, Moussa Faki, also condemned the attack, calling for an international investigation to hold those responsible accountable.

The European Union's chief, Ursula von der Leyen, on Friday she was "deeply disturbed by images from Gaza."

China strongly condemned the attacks. China Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Friday. "We mourn for the victims and send our sympathies to the injured," Mao said.

Qatar condemned "in the strongest terms the heinous massacre committed by the Israeli occupation," calling for "urgent international action" to halt the fighting in Gaza.

In the United States, President Joe Biden said the incident would complicate delicate cease-fire negotiations in the almost five-month-old conflict, with the White House calling the deaths "tremendously alarming."

On Thursday, the United Nations Security Council convened an emergency closed-door session but did not release a statement condemning the recent killings. According to diplomatic sources, the absence of a consensus arose due to the objection from the United States, which opposed attributing blame to Israel. Before entering the chamber, US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood expressed his condemnation for the deaths. However, upon exiting, he remarked that the United States lacked complete information about the situation.

France said, "The fire by Israeli soldiers against civilians trying to access food is unjustifiable."

Colombian President Gustavo Petro denounced what he called a "genocide" of the Palestinian people and suspended purchases of weapons from Israel.

France calls for an independent inquiry as more countries speak out against the shootings of Palestinians seeking food.

South Africa, which has filed a case of genocide against Israel at the International Court of Justice over its war on Gaza, condemned the "massacre" of people seeking aid and said: "This latest atrocity is another breach of international law and in breach of the binding provisional orders of the International Court of Justice (ICJ)."

Likewise, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the deaths and reiterated "the need to reach an immediate ceasefire."

Jeddah renewed its "demands to the international community to take a firm position to oblige Israel to respect international humanitarian law, immediately open safe humanitarian corridors, allow the evacuation of the injured, and enable the delivery of relief aid.