ANKARA
The Israeli attack on people waiting to receive humanitarian aid on Thursday morning, which killed 118 Palestinians and injured over 750 others, was orchestrated by Tel Aviv and involved local Palestinian entrepreneurs to show a genuine humanitarian aid delivery, media reports said on Sunday.
Israeli officials, Palestinian businessmen, and Western diplomats have revealed that Tel Aviv has been engaged in planning at least four such aid convoys to northern Gaza over the last week, the New York Times reported.
Speaking to the US daily, two Western diplomats said they were informed by Israeli officials about Israel’s motives behind such actions.
The Israeli government reportedly initiated these efforts to address the dire humanitarian situation in northern Gaza, where famine is threatening lives due to the suspension of most international aid operations, diplomats said on condition of anonymity.
This suspension comes amid Israeli restrictions on aid trucks and escalating lawlessness in the region.
Israeli officials made contacts with multiple local entrepreneurs, requesting their assistance in coordinating private aid convoys to northern Gaza, with Israel offering security support, according to two Gazan businessmen.
Jawdat Khoudary, one of the Palestinian businessmen who helped organize some of the Israeli aid trucks for the relief initiative, expressed the urgency of the situation, saying: “My family, friends, and neighbors are dying from hunger.”
On Thursday morning, Israeli forces shelled a crowd of Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid south of Gaza City at the “al-Nabulsi Roundabout” area, leaving at least 112 Palestinians dead and 760 others injured, according to the Gaza-based Health Ministry.
The Israeli military said an initial investigation found that some Palestinians approached a military checkpoint overseeing the entry of the aid trucks with soldiers firing warning shots and shooting at the legs of Palestinians who continued to move toward the troops.
Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed 30,410 people and injured 71,700 others with mass destruction and shortages of necessities.
The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
