Israel says stampede caused most Gaza aid convoy deaths; Gaza official says most shot dead

JERUSALEM — Israel’s military has completed a preliminary review of civilian deaths at a Gaza aid convoy last week, which determined that its forces did not strike the convoy and that most Palestinians died in a stampede, a military spokesperson said on Sunday.

The review also found that after warning shots were fired to disperse the stampede, Israeli soldiers had “responded” after being approached by looters deemed to have posed an immediate threat.

A senior Gaza health ministry official rejected the findings. Health authorities in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip said Israeli forces had killed more than 100 people trying to reach a relief convoy near Gaza City.

Israel said it has also launched a more thorough examination of the incident to be handled by “an independent, professional and expert body” which will share its findings as early as in the coming days, said spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.

Pressure has mounted on Israel over the deaths of dozens of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Thursday in which crowds surrounded a convoy of aid trucks and soldiers opened fire, with several countries backing a UN call for an inquiry.

“The IDF has concluded an initial review of the unfortunate incident where Gazan civilians were trampled to death and injured as they charged to the aid convoy,” said Hagari.

The review, he said, which gathered information from commanders and troops in the field, determined that no strike was carried out towards the aid convoy.

“The majority of Palestinians were killed or injured as a result of the stampede,” Hagari said.

“Following the warning shots fired to disperse the stampede and after our forces had started retreating, several looters approached our forces and posed an immediate threat to them. According to the initial review, the soldiers responded toward several individuals,” he said.

In Gaza, Muatasem Salah, a member of the Emergency Committee at the Ministry of Health in Gaza, dismissed the Israeli finding as “incorrect.”

“We have over a thousand martyrs and wounded in this massacre, and most of the martyrs and injuries are caused by heavy-caliber bullets, not light weapons. These heavy-caliber bullets are from the Israeli occupation army,” said Salah.

“There are many serious injuries that have resulted in amputations. Any attempt to claim that people were martyred due to overcrowding or being run over is incorrect. The wounded and martyrs are the result of being shot with heavy-caliber bullets,” he added.

Hagari said the military opened an inquiry to examine the incident further “which will help us reduce the risk of such a tragic incident from occurring again during one of our humanitarian operations.”

“The incident will be examined in the fact-finding and assessment mechanism, an independent, professional and expert body. For the sake of transparency we will share updates as our examination develops hopefully in the coming days.”

Hagari did not give details on who specifically would be handling the inquiry. — Reuters