GENEVA, (PIC)
The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has accused the Israeli occupation army of starving the Palestinians in the north of Wadi Gaza (Gaza Valley) and killing them while trying to obtain food.
“Not only the Israeli occupation forces starved the Palestinians in the north of Wadi Gaza, but they also killed dozens of them as they tried to obtain small portions of food aid that arrived there,” Euro-Med said in a statement on Tuesday.
Euro-Med described such Israeli practices as “part of the genocidal crimes that have been committed by the Israeli army against the civilians in Gaza since October 7 of last year.”
Euro-Med documented shocking testimonies about the killing of dozens of Palestinians and wounding others as they gathered on Thursday, January 11, in al-Rashid street in the west of Gaza City to receive humanitarian aid, holding UN agencies responsible for their failure to find appropriate mechanisms for delivering aid to the population.
“Nearly 50 Palestinians were martyred and dozens of others were injured after the Israeli occupation army used quadcopter drones to open fire at Palestinians who had gathered to receive quantities of flour from UN trucks,” Euro-Med explained.
“The residents fled the area and managed to transport a number of wounded civilians, but the martyrs remained there. Later on the same day, the aid trucks arrived and hundreds of residents gathered again in order to receive portions of flour,” Euro-Med said.
According to testimonies obtained by Euro-Med, the local residents had to travel distances of up to 10 kilometers to reach that area, while there was no mechanism to arrange aid distribution safely and appropriately.
Euro-Med also received information about a number of casualties as a result of the extreme crowding and stampede that happened after aid trucks started to flock into the area.
Several hours later, some residents used animal-drawn carts to transport the martyrs who were killed in the area, Euro-Med added.
Similar drone attacks against civilians trying to receive aid happened in the same area in the following days, according to the rights group.
