Hamas has stated that Israel’s targeting of relief convoys is “an affirmation and insistence on its part to continue the war of genocide.”
In a statement released on Sunday, March 3, 2024, Hamas said, “The occupation’s continued targeting of aid convoys expresses an unprecedented level of criminality and brutality in contemporary history.”
The statement added that Israel is practising systematic starvation and deepening the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip in complete disregard for humanitarian laws.
Meanwhile, Israel’s military denied that it was responsible for the killing of 117 aid-seeking Palestinians in Gaza City, which has triggered global condemnation and calls for an independent inquiry.
Military spokesperson, Daniel Hagari, announced that a preliminary review determined that Israel’s forces did not strike the convoy and that most Palestinians died in a stampede.
He said that the review, which gathered information from commanders and forces in the field, determined that no strike was carried out towards the aid convoy.
“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.”
Daniel Hagari
The purported finding is against the accounts of the Palestinian officials, who said that more than 100 Palestinians were killed and about 700 others wounded after Israeli troops opened fire on hundreds waiting for food aid southwest of Gaza City.
The UN team, medics and rights monitors claim that evidence points to heavy shooting by Israeli forces.
The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor also confirmed that Israeli tanks deliberately ran over dozens of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Donatella Rovera, a senior crisis response adviser at Amnesty International, said that Israel, as the occupying power, is obliged under international law to cater to the needs of the population it occupies.
She stressed that Israel controls what goes into Gaza by way of food, medical supplies and humanitarian aid.
She added that there is “concrete evidence that contradicts whatever statements are being made by the Israeli authorities” on the killing of 117 Palestinians while collecting food aid on February 29, 2024.
Rovera also reminded that the Israeli authorities prevent human rights officers and journalists from entering Gaza to carry out independent investigations.
Truce Negotiations Expected To Resume
Truce talks are expected to resume in Egypt on Sunday but the details beyond a possible six-week pause in fighting remain unclear.
A senior Hamas official told a news agency that a ceasefire in Gaza may be secured “within 24 to 48 hours” if Israel accepts the Palestinian group’s demands in ongoing talks.
“If Israel agrees to Hamas demands, which include the return of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza and increasing humanitarian aid, that would pave the way for a [truce] agreement within the next 24 to 48 hours,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, Mohamad Elmasry, an analyst and a professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, opined that while it will be “very easy” for Israel to agree to the latest proposal for a six-week truce, it will be “much more complicated” for Hamas.
“Hamas has a couple of different calculations to make. On the one hand, Palestinians in Gaza are desperate for a break. They need aid. They’re dying, literally from bombs or a lack of basic nutrients,” he told a news agency.
“On the other hand, I think it would be very difficult for Hamas to accept the deal on Israel’s terms,” Elmasry said.
“Israel’s terms are basically the complete destruction of Gaza,” he asserted.
“They’ve made that clear, both in word and in action: they want to destroy as much of Gaza as possible, make conditions unlivable, and ultimately drive the Palestinians out of Gaza,” he added.
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