Israel’s war on Gaza — now in its 148th day — has killed at least 30,228 Palestinians, mostly children and women, and wounded 71,377 others.
Saturday, March 2, 2024
0820 GMT — Israel admitted that its forces opened fire at Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid south of Gaza City, killing more than 100 people and injuring over 700 others.
“IDF (Israel Defense Forces) forces did not shoot at the convoy. IDF forces did not shoot at people looting the trucks. IDF forces used fire when masses ran toward them in a way that threatened their lives. They were there in the first place to secure the convoy,” Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy said on X.
The spokesperson later on deleted his post and repeated claims by the Israeli army, accusing civilians of killing each other in a stampede.
“Those poor people were killed when they were crushed in a stampede and in some cases run over by the Gazan truck drivers as they tried to get out. But go ahead, blame Israel,” Levy said later.
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0505 GMT — Several Gaza aid attack victims were shot – UN
A United Nations delegation found that numerous people injured in the Israeli attack on Palestinians awaiting food assistance on Thursday sustained gunshot wounds. The director of al-Awda Hospital states that 80 percent of the casualties admitted to the hospital were gunshot victims.
0440 GMT — Germany refuses to condemn Israeli army’s massacre of Palestinians
The German government expressed shock at the Israeli army’s killing of Palestinian civilians waiting for humanitarian aid in Gaza but it refused to explicitly condemn the massacre.
“There is frightening news reaching us (from Gaza). We very clearly demand clarification of the circumstances. The protection of civilians in such a dramatic situation is the top priority,” said Deputy Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Kathrin Deschauer when asked at a news conference in Berlin, if Germany condemns the latest mass killings in Gaza.
“We demand a humanitarian cease-fire so that more people do not die in Gaza,” she added.
But deputy chancellery spokesman Wolfgang Buechner said the killings of Palestinian civilians on Thursday was “not a massacre” because the circumstances remain unclear.
0350 GMT — Deaths of 13 children from malnutrition in Gaza is ‘a failure’
Hamas said it considered the deaths of 13 children in the northern Gaza Strip from malnutrition “a failure” by the international community and the UN.
The Palestinian resistance group said the deaths will remain “a stain on the conscience of humanity and a dangerous precedent in our modern time”.
It urged the UN and international relief groups to urgently move “to save the children and civilians in the Gaza Strip,” in particular, those in the north.
Early Friday, the Gaza-based Health Ministry said four more children died from malnutrition and dehydration in northern Gaza, bringing the total to 13.
0640 GMT — Israeli forces kill Palestinian teenager in West Bank raid
Israeli forces killed a Palestinian teenager during a raid in the occupied West Bank.
According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, Israeli soldiers conducted a raid on the town of Kafr Ni’ma, west of Ramallah, in the West Bank.
During the raid, 16-year-old Muhammed Murad ad-Diq was fatally shot in the head by Israeli soldiers.
Israeli forces als o carried out raids in the cities of Qalqilya and Hebron, as well as the town of Azzun.
In Azzun near Qalqilya city of the West Bank, the Israeli forces, conducting raids for the sixth consecutive day, arrested one Palestinian and caused damage to property in residents’ homes.
0010 GMT — US President Biden has said he trusts Tel Aviv will investigate itself after Israeli troops fired on starving Palestinians at an aid site in besieged Gaza, killing at least 115 Palestinians and wounding 760 others, may of them critically.
Earlier, the White House said that it believes Israel should investigate the killings of 115 people in Gaza City after Israeli troops opened fire while civilians waited for food aid, defending the country’s ability to look into its own potential wrongdoing.
“We’ve asked the government of Israel to investigate, and it’s our assessment that they’re taking this seriously and they are looking into what occurred, so as to avoid tragedies like this from happening again,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.
Kirby added that they have not given Israel a timeline to complete their investigation.
Kirby said Israel was “seriously” investigating the aid convoy deaths. However, Washington would continue to support Israel militarily despite the growing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, Kirby said.
“We are still helping Israel with their needs to defend themselves,” he said.
2345 GMT — Biden says ‘hoping’ for Gaza ceasefire deal by Ramadan
US President Joe Biden said he was “hoping” for a ceasefire deal in besieged Gaza by the Muslim holy month of Ramadan but agreement was still not sealed.
“I’m hoping so; we’re still working real hard on it. We’re not there yet,” he told reporters at the White House when asked if he expected a deal by Ramadan, which will start on March 10 or 11, depending on the lunar calendar.
“We’ll get there, but we’re not there yet — we may not get there,” Biden added, without elaborating, as he headed to his helicopter to spend the weekend at the presidential Camp David retreat.
2102 GMT — Global media outlets sign letter urging protection of journalists in Gaza
Senior leaders at multiple global media outlets have signed a letter urging Israeli authorities to protect journalists in besieged Gaza, saying reporters have been working in unprecedented conditions during Israel’s invasion on the enclave and faced “grave personal risk.”
Among media outlets whose top editors signed the letter were the Associated Press, AFP, Reuters, the New York Times, the Washington Post, BBC, CNN, the Guardian, Financial Times, Der Spiegel and Haaretz.
Committee to Protect Journalists, which released the letter signed by the leaders of 59 news global organisations, said the war has been the “most dangerous ever” for journalists.
