Did Israel Target Civilians at Aid Distribution Site?

Political leaders and the world’s media have claimed that the IDF is responsible for the deaths of 104 Gazans on February 29 at a site where a convoy of more on 30 aid trucks was trying to make its way to a distribution point: “US blocks Security Council motion blaming Israel for deadly Gaza aid convoy incident,” Times of Israel, March 1, 2024:

The US spokesman said the rush for aid showed the situation was “incredibly desperate” in Gaza, where the United Nations has warned of the risk of famine. “People are swarming these trucks because they’re hungry, because they need food, because they need medicine and other assistance,” he said.

But it’s also true, judging by the record over the last 30 years of stampedes leading to mass deaths, that Muslim Arabs show themselves to be particularly susceptible to such panicky behavior.

Speaking in English in a Thursday evening press conference, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said that troops had fired warning shots in an attempt to disperse the mob of Palestinians [from attacking the IDF soldiers].

“As these vital humanitarian supplies made their way toward Gazans in need, thousands of Gazans [rushed] the trucks, some began violently pushing and trampling other Gazans to death, looting the humanitarian supplies.

“No IDF strike was conducted toward the aid convoy,” Hagari said. “On the contrary, the IDF was there carrying out a humanitarian aid operation, to secure the humanitarian corridor, and allow the aid convoy to reach its distribution point, so that the humanitarian aid could reach Gazan civilians in the north who are in need.”

The IDF spokesperson denied that Israel was blocking the delivery of humanitarian aid. “This humanitarian aid was coordinated by Israel, for the people of Gaza. We want the aid to reach the people of Gaza. We are working around the clock to make this happen. Israel puts no limits on the amount of aid that can go into Gaza,” he said.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan accused Israel of targeting civilians in the incident. In separate statements, they called for increased safe passages for humanitarian aid. They also urged the international community to take decisive action to pressure Israel to abide by international law and to reach an agreement for an immediate ceasefire.

Israel did not “target civilians” as a group. As some Gazans moved menacingly toward the IDF soldiers, those soldiers fired warning shots. When some of the Gazans continued toward the soldiers, at that point the IDF did shoot directly at them. The IDF estimates that fewer than ten were killed by being shot. Close to 100 died in the crush of people assaulting the 30 aid trucks.

A statement from Turkey accused Israel of adding “another crime to its crimes against humanity.”

Erdogan’s antisemitism has reached a fever pitch. He no longer bothers to pretend to want good relations with the Jewish state. He has provided citizenship, and a refuge, to members of Hamas who are dedicated to Israel’s destruction. He has predicted that there could in the future be a war between the “Crescent” and the “Cross,” making it clear that he thought Turkey should lead the forces of the “Crescent.” He frequently rants against Israel as a diabolically wicked nation, and labels the tiny Jewish state’s efforts to defend its citizens as “crimes against humanity.” While he did briefly criticize the attacks by Hamas on October 7, he nonetheless continues to insist that Hamas “is not a terrorist organization.”

France’s foreign ministry also condemned Israel, saying ““The fire by Israeli soldiers against civilians trying to access food is unjustifiable.”

What a grotesque travesty of the truth by the French Foreign Ministry. The fire by Israeli soldiers was not against “civilians trying to access food.” The fire from the IDF came in two volleys. The first consisted of warning shots, fired into the air, and designed to keep those Gazans who were moving toward the IDF soldiers from continuing; the second consisted of shots fired at those who, despite that warning, continued to move menacingly toward the soldiers. The IDF estimates that fewer than ten Gazans were killed in that second volley. What the Quai d’Orsay ought to have said is this: “We urge the government of Israel to complete its study of the events that led to the loss of life in northern Gaza on February 29 and to make its report public as soon as possible.

Writing on the social media platform X that Palestinian “civilians have been targeted by Israeli soldiers,” French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his “strongest condemnation” of the killings.

Macron’s statement was just as reprehensible as that of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Israel does not target civilians who are doing civilian things. But when they threaten the lives of Israelis, they are no longer civilians, but enemy combatants. The Gazans who refused to stop after the IDF soldiers had fired warning shots, and continued to move toward them in a menacing manner — who knows what weapons they may have been carrying — were no longer mere “civilians”; they were a danger to the lives of the IDF soldiers who, quite understandably, used live fire to halt their advance.