التصنيف: أخبار

The Gaza health ministry says more than 100 Palestinians waiting for an aid delivery were killed and hundreds of others injured in Gaza, blaming Israeli forces.

The Israeli army has claimed at 4.40am the first aid truck in the humanitarian convoy made its way through a humanitarian corridor that the IDF said it was securing on Al Rashid Road, west of Gaza City.

IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said Israeli tanks were there to secure the area, but during the operation a mob “ambushed the aid convoy bringing it to a halt”, and that the IDF fired warning shots to “disperse the mob”, adding that “no strike” was conducted towards the aid convoy.

While the situation continues to develop, using satellite images, videos released by the Israeli Defence Forces, and footage shot from the ground, Sky News has pieced together a first indication of what happened.

Series of gun shots heard

Civilians were gathering to try to get food and medicine from aid truck deliveries – which in recent weeks have dramatically declined due to a collapse in security and difficulties coordinating their passage.

A video obtained by Al Jazeera shows a crowd appearing to flee and duck amid audible gunfire. It was filmed on a section of open ground just off Al Rashid Street, a further 200 metres northeast up the road.

The video is filmed outside in the dark – meaning it would have been taken before sunrise, which was around 6.10am local time.

Shouting can also be heard as people are seen climbing over what appears to be a vehicle as dozens hurry past the camera.

Aerial video indicates density of people gathered

The IDF released a series of monochrome aerial clips which show hundreds of people gathering towards trucks trying to receive food on Al Rashid Street. It is unclear exactly when the IDF footage was filmed.

The video shows an area adjacent to the intersection of Al Rashid Street and No 10 Street. Around 20 people in this clip appear to be not moving, and it’s not clear if they are dead, wounded or sheltering.

The second clip located was filmed just over 400 metres northeast along Al Rashid Street from the first. Also released by the IDF, it shows large crowds surrounding several trucks.

Together, the Al Jazeera and IDF videos were filmed over roughly 600 metres and show that the events unfolded over a large area.

The location of this is notable due to its proximity to a newly established Israeli checkpoint and outpost, located around 400 metres south of the first video.

Bodies laying on vehicle

Aftermath video also located to the incident site where the IDF footage was filmed, shows a number of bodies laying on top of a vehicle.

Following the incident, medical teams said they were unable to cope with the volume and severity of the injuries, with dozens of wounded taken to the Al Shifa hospital – which is just under 4km from the incident site.

Who has said what?

Thursday’s deadly incident has drawn criticism from the UN’s aid chief Martin Griffiths who said he was “appalled” at the reported killings and injuries.

Kamel Abu Nahel, who was being treated for a gunshot wound at Shifa Hospital, said he and others went to the distribution point in the middle of the night because they heard there would be a delivery of food.

He said Israeli troops opened fire on the crowd as people pulled boxes of flour and canned goods off the trucks, causing them to scatter, with some hiding under cars. After the shooting stopped, people went back to the trucks, and the soldiers opened fire again. He was shot in the leg and fell over, and then a truck ran over his leg as it sped off, he said.

However, Israel has said that people were killed and injured “as a result of pushing, trampling and being run over by trucks”.

In a briefing, Mr Hagari said “no IDF strike was conducted towards the aid convoy”, adding that the Israeli army was there “conducting a humanitarian operation to secure the humanitarian corridor and allow the aid convoy to reach its designated distribution point”.

The spokesperson for the US department of state, Matthew Miller, said Washington is “seeking information” on the incident.

Aid in Gaza

The incident comes as aid groups say it has become nearly impossible to deliver humanitarian assistance in most of Gaza because of the difficulty of co-ordinating with the Israeli military and ongoing hostilities.

Also, the breakdown of public order, with crowds of desperate people overwhelming aid convoys.

The UN says a quarter of Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians face starvation, and around 80% have fled their homes.

Aid deliveries to northern Gaza have been rare and chaotic, passing through more active military zones to an area where the UN says many people are starving, with videos showing desperate crowds surging around supply trucks including the one below filmed this month.

UN and other relief agencies have complained that Israel has denied attempts they have made to transfer humanitarian aid to northern parts of the enclave, restricting movement and communications.

Israel has denied any restrictions on humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza and has said the UN is responsible for failures to deliver supplies.

The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.

At least 43 people have died in a fire that broke out at a six-storey shopping mall fire in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Health minister Samanta Lal Sen said that the blaze broke out late on Thursday at a restaurant in the Green Cozy Cottage Shopping Mall, and quickly spread to other floors.

By Friday morning, at least 43 had died and 22 others were left with severe burns and were in a critical condition. They are being treated at two major health facilities.

Mr Sen said at 33 people, including women and children, were declared dead at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, while at least 10 others died after being taken to the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.

The cause of the fire has not immediately been determined, but Brigadier General Main Uddin, Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence director, said it could have originated from a gas leak or stove.

He said: “It was a dangerous building with gas cylinders on every floor, even on the staircases.”

The force director also added that more than a dozen firefighting units were deployed to douse the fire.

At least 75 people, including 42 who were unconscious, were rescued from the building, rescuers said.

The US defence secretary was asked in Congress today how many women and children had been killed by Israel since 7 October.

“It is over 25,000,” Lloyd Austin said.

The Pentagon later added: “We cannot independently verify these Gaza casualty figures.”

But his number is actually a little higher than the women and children breakdown given by officials in Gaza.

And the fact it was said by the American defence secretary is hugely significant.

Middle East latest: US says ‘too many Palestinians died today’

Intentionally or otherwise it adds pressure on Israel as ceasefire talks drag on and are repeatedly stalled.

Throughout this conflict, doubt has been cast by the American administration over the accuracy of the figures emerging from Gaza.

In alignment with the Israelis and many Western governments, they have said it is wrong to trust the Gaza health ministry figures because it is run by Hamas.

At points, there have been moments of deviation from that assertion, with different officials from different Western countries at times saying the numbers could be accurate.

But the overriding implication had been that the numbers were wrong and inflated.

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The latest Hamas numbers, from their health ministry, say about 30,000 people have died.

Hamas does not break down the deaths between combatants and non-combatants.

The latest health ministry figures, from 28 February, say 12,300 children have been killed and 8,400 women, which comes to 20,700.

On Mr Austin’s number of more than 25,000, and assuming the known total dead is about 30,000, then that leaves 5,000 men dead.

Before this war, Hamas is believed to have had about 30,000 fighters.

So all this tells us two things.

First, Israel is nowhere near close to its stated aim of totally destroying Hamas.

Second, even if you conclude all the men are combatants – an absurd conclusion but one that has been drawn at points in this conflict – then more than 80% of those killed are civilians.

All in a war prompted by the Hamas attack last October, prosecuted by Israel and enabled by America.

I asked the State Department spokesman how this could be seen as anything other than a complete disaster and a total failure of American leadership.

Matt Miller avoided the question and repeated the US government line that the number of civilians killed is “far too high”.