7 days ago
Another attack at aid station in Gaza
Isabella Higgins: A third major shooting attack near a southern Gaza aid distribution point in as many days is fueling deep despair amongst the Palestinian community. At least 27 were killed in the latest attacks and hundreds more reported injured in what Palestinian authorities allege is another instance of Israeli troops firing upon civilians. The Israel Defense Forces says it's investigating but is questioning the number of people injured after conceding firing warning shots in the early hours of Tuesday morning. From Jerusalem, here's Middle East correspondent Matthew Doran.
Matthew Doran: In a makeshift hospital ward inside a tent at southern Gaza's Nasser Hospital, 22-year-old Motaz Alfarati is among dozens lying in beds and on the floor, bandaged and bloodied after a deadly early morning attack.
Motaz Alfarati: In one moment we heard the noise of Apache helicopters. They were throwing around grenades around us and on the asphalt and anyone who doesn't stand and who moved was shot at by a sniper in his head, in his leg, in his stomach.
Matthew Doran: Palestinian authorities allege Israeli forces opened fire on the thousands trying to access an aid distribution point near Rafa. Motaz was there and says many travelled for hours to arrive at the site.
Motaz Alfarati: There were thousands and thousands who came to the area in order to take aid boxes. But there is not enough.
Matthew Doran: The International Red Cross says more than 180 people were rushed to its field hospital in Rafa. Israel says it's investigating the incident. It's different rhetoric to what the government and the Israel Defense Forces said on Sunday after the first attack near the site, rejecting allegations it was responsible for more than 30 being killed and dozens more injured.
David Mencer: Israel is not preventing Gazans from accessing humanitarian aid and the IDF did not fire at civilians in or near aid distribution zone.
Matthew Doran: David Mencer is the Israeli Government's spokesperson.
David Mencer: The warning shots were fired away from the aid distribution point in response to the threat perceived by the IDF troops.
Matthew Doran: Israeli authorities accuse Hamas of undermining the new private aid model in Gaza, fuelling chaos in the strip near the handful of distribution sites. The IDF and politicians continue to refer to video they claim shows armed gunmen targeting civilians, despite the vision being recorded kilometres away from the aid facility.
Jeremy Laurence: Deadly attacks on distraught civilians trying to access the paltry amounts of food aid in Gaza are unconscionable.
Matthew Doran: Jeremy Laurence is the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights spokesperson.
Jeremy Laurence: The wilful impediment of access to food and other life-sustaining relief supplies for civilians may constitute a war crime.
Matthew Doran: For its part, the organisation running the aid sites, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, says food is being distributed without incident, millions of meals handed to Palestinians in recent days. But it's wrapping that insistence in a significant caveat, that it has no control over what happens outside the fence lines of its facilities, which is where these attacks have happened. This is Matthew Doran in Jerusalem, reporting for AM.
