GAZA — On Saturday, the Euro-Med Human Rights
Monitor confirmed that based on initial investigations, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) gunfire killed and wounded dozens of starving Palestinian
civilians who were attempting to receive humanitarian aid in western Gaza at
dawn on Thursday. The IOF is striving to disassociate itself from the atrocity,
Euro-Med Monitor said, by releasing a shattered aerial video clip and arguing
that a stampede and trampling caused a large number of civilian deaths.
In a brief statement, the rights organization
said that its research teams observed the event from the very first moments and
recorded that Israeli tanks opened heavy fire on groups of Palestinian
civilians attempting to receive humanitarian aid west and south of Gaza City.
As a result, 112 civilians were killed, and 760 were injured, while many
victims are believed to remain in the targeted area.
The evidence—which is supported by video
footage showing the shooting operation—demonstrates that dozens of victims
suffered gunshot wounds rather than being run over or crushed, in contrast to
what the IOF spokesman claimed.
The rights group highlighted four pieces of
evidence confirming the IOF’s killing and wounding of starving civilians, the
first of which is the signs of injuries on the bodies of the dead and injured.
These injuries were documented by a Euro-Med Monitor researcher as soon as the
victims arrived at Al-Shifa Hospital, as was the blood on flour bags and aid
boxes.
The second piece of evidence is the footage
released by the IOF itself, which includes audible evidence of gunfire
emanating from Israeli tanks positioned near the coast, which the IOF
purposefully covered up in the video using black; eyewitnesses have confirmed
that the tanks were present close to the crime scene.
The third piece of evidence concerns the
bullets’ distinct sound signature, which is audible in the footage released at
the time of the shooting and identifies them as coming from an automatic weapon
used by the IOF with 5.56 bullets.
Finally, the rights group stated that the
aerial video published by the IOF is intentionally fragmented and distorted. At
minute 1:06, however, the video footage does indicate the existence of at least
two Israeli tanks, as well as multiple bodies, in the path of the tanks rather
than the aid trucks.
During minutes 1:06–1:28 in the video, most of
those in attendance—including individuals who had initially been far from the
aid trucks—can be seen fleeing from the trucks, i.e., running in the opposite
direction. This indicates that the danger did not originate from the trucks
themselves or the surrounding crowd but rather from an outside source that
terrified everyone in the area, both close to and far away from the trucks.
Furthermore, the video clip released by the IOF does not depict any ramming operations,
which aligns with numerous survivors’ accounts of being shot in the back as
they attempted to flee the scene.
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor emphasized that
under no circumstances should the integrity and credibility of footage released
by the IOF to absolve itself of its crimes be accepted without first granting
an independent external investigative body full access to the IOF’s data to
review all the information. If the international community immediately accepts
Israel’s altered footage as fact, it will only result in an absurd scenario in
which the IOF simultaneously acts as perpetrator, investigator, and judge.
In fact, Euro-Med Monitor added, the IOF’s
video clip demonstrates Israel’s guilt, even if one ignores the edits and
accepts the story of a “stampede,” as it reveals the extent of this
Israeli-made humanitarian disaster and the crime of starvation that caused
hordes of civilians to rush towards aid trucks today. As the entry and
protection of these trucks are obstructed by IOF, starving Palestinians are
seen risking their lives while trying to reach the trucks, which are located
close to IOF concentration points. The IOF clearly targeted starved civilians
who did not pose any threat to them and whose only request was to receive a
small amount of aid, despite the humiliating procedures that accompany the
distribution process.
The Euro-Med Monitor warned that the Israeli
shooting of starving Palestinian civilians receiving aid has become a regular
practice. In recent weeks, the IOF have directly attacked and killed dozens of
people in Gaza City, including on Salah Al-Din Street and in the vicinity of
Kuwait Roundabout.
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