“Deep indignation at the images coming from Gaza where civilians have been targeted by Israeli soldiers,” French President Emmanuel Macron said.
Palestinians gathered to collect aid food in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip February 26, 2024 | AFP via Getty Images
Europe’s top brass on Friday expressed outrage over the killing of dozens of people during an aid delivery in Gaza and called for a independent investigation into the incident.
European Council President Charles Michel said he was “shocked and repulsed by yesterday’s killing of innocent civilians.” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she was “deeply disturbed.”
The pair both called for an investigation, as did German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and French President Emmanuel Macron — who blamed Israel for the incident.
“Deep indignation at the images coming from Gaza where civilians have been targeted by Israeli soldiers,” Macron said on Friday.
According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, Israeli troops on Thursday opened fire on a crowd of Palestinians racing to grab food off delivery trucks in Gaza City, killing more than 100 people and injuring more than 700.
Israel has contested this version of events, saying that most of the casualties were caused in a stampede as people rushed to get supplies. According to local media reports, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that its soldiers only opened fire when they felt endangered and caused fewer than 10 casualtiess, the Times of Israel reported.
Macron condemned the shooting, reiterating that “all civilian population must be protected.”
French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné also called for a probe.
“We will demand explanations and there will need to be an independent investigation to determine what happened,” he told radio station France Inter. “France calls things by their name. It says things when it comes to describing Hamas as terrorists. But it must also say things when there are atrocities in Gaza.”
U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that Washington is “urgently seeking additional information on exactly what took place.” EU leaders and several Arab countries have openly condemned Thursday’s shooting and reiterated calls for an investigation.
Israel has been under growing pressure to strike a cease-fire with Hamas and end the conflict in Gaza that began with the attack on October 7, during which the militant group killed about 1,200 people and kidnapped more than 200. The Gaza health ministry says the IDF has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians since then. International leaders and organizations have grown progressively more critical of Israel’s retaliation in the enclave, accusing Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of not doing enough to protect civilians.
The U.N. has warned of “imminent famine” in the Gaza Strip, where risk of death by starvation “is growing, with children and pregnant women worst affected.”
Source: Politico