By Guardian - the lam (earlier) - Fri 1 Mar 2024 12.33

Germany demands Israeli army 'fully explain' how 'mass panic and shooting' in Gaza happened

Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock has demanded that Israel’s army “fully explain” how 112 Palestinians ended up dead yesterday while they were gathered to receive humanitarian aid, an event which she said had shocked her.

Comments by foreign minister Annalena Baerbock follow interventions by France and the US after 112 Palestinians were killed

In a post on social media, she said:

People wanted relief supplies for themselves and their families and found themselves dead. The reports from Gaza shock me. The Israeli army must fully explain how the mass panic and shooting could have happened. My condolences go out to the families of the victims.

In Gaza people are closer to dying than to living. More humanitarian aid needs to come in. Immediately.

We now finally need humanitarian action #Feuerpause (#ceasefire) so that the hostages are finally released from the hands of Hamas and more people don’t die in Gaza. And help can be distributed safely.

The Brazilian government said that the killing of over 100 people seeking humanitarian aid in Gaza shows that Israel’s military action in Gaza has no “ethical or legal limits,” once again calling for an immediate ceasefire in the conflict.

In a statement, Brazil’s foreign ministry said:

Humanity is failing the civilians of Gaza. And it’s time to prevent further massacres.

Germany demands Israeli army 'fully explain' how 'mass panic and shooting' in Gaza happened

Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock has demanded that Israel’s army “fully explain” how Palestinians ended up dead yesterday while they were gathered to receive humanitarian aid, an event which she said had shocked her.

In a post on social media, she said:

People wanted relief supplies for themselves and their families and found themselves dead. The reports from Gaza shock me. The Israeli army must fully explain how the mass panic and shooting could have happened. My condolences go out to the families of the victims.

In Gaza people are closer to dying than to living. More humanitarian aid needs to come in. Immediately.

We now finally need humanitarian action #Feuerpause (#ceasefire) so that the hostages are finally released from the hands of Hamas and more people don’t die in Gaza. And help can be distributed safely.

Jordan’s air force has been airdropping humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip again.

Many Gazan residents have gathered for Friday prayers in Rafah among the ruins of a mosque there.

The scenes we are seeing unfold in Israel and Gaza mark a new chapter in the Middle East conflict. The consequences and scale of losses are already devastating, and the recent attack – and the war that now follows – is likely to shape global politics for years to come. 

With correspondents on the ground and reporters updating this liveblog 24/7, the Guardian is well-placed to provide comprehensive, fact-checked reporting, to help all of us make sense of this perilous moment for the region. Reader-funded and free from commercial influence, we can report fearlessly on world events as they develop. 

Summary of the day so far …

It has just gone 1.30 pm in Gaza and in Tel Aviv. Here are the headlines …

• France has called for an independent investigation into the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza who were gathered to receive humanitarian aid on Thursday. Foreign minister Stéphane Séjourné said “We will ask for explanations, and there will have to be an independent probe to determine what happened. France calls things by their name. This applies when we designate Hamas as a terrorist group, but we must also call things by their name when there are atrocities in Gaza”. It follows earlier comments by President Emmanuel Macron, who said he felt “deep indignation at the images coming from Gaza where civilians have been targeted by Israeli soldiers.”
• Lebanon’s foreign ministry has echoed the call for an investigation, condemning what it said was the “deliberate killing of dozens of defenseless Palestinian civilians and the wounding of hundreds”. The White House called the deaths of more than 100 Palestinians as they gathered around aid trucks “tremendously alarming”. There were starkly different accounts of how victims died in the chaos on Thursday. Israel’s military denied shooting into large crowds of hungry people and said most were killed in a crash or run over by trucks trying to escape.
• At least 30,228 Palestinians have been killed and 71,377 have been injured in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement. The ministry gave the total casualties in the past 24 hours as 193 Palestinians killed and 920 injured, which included those killed or hurt in the aid convoy incident.
• In its latest operational briefing, Israel’s military says it continues to operate in Khan Younis, where it claims to have “located a weapon storage facility containing numerous AK-47 rifles and ammunition”. It also claims to have targeted “a pit in which rocket launchers were concealed” and to have killed several fighters. The claims have not been independently verified.
• A demonstration has taken place outside the US embassy in Tel Aviv calling for Joe Biden’s administration to do more to help free the 134 hostages still believed held in Gaza by Hamas. A separate march calling for the release of the hostages has entered its third day. The march, featuring family and friends of those being held, is heading for Jerusalem.
• Israeli security forces erected barricades at Lion’s Gate in Jerusalem to prevent worshippers from reaching the al-Aqsa mosque for Friday prayer. Several arrests appear to have been made according to videos circulating on social media. This has been a regular occurrence since 7 October.
• More than 200 MPs from 12 countries have committed themselves to trying to persuade their governments to impose a ban on arms sales to Israel, arguing they will not be complicit in “Israel’s grave violation of international law” in its assault on Gaza.
• In the UK, veteran political agitator George Galloway has been elected to parliament after running a byelection campaign in Rochdale chiefly about Gaza. He said established political parties in the UK “will pay a high price for the role that you have played in enabling, encouraging, and covering for the catastrophe presently going on in occupied Gaza.”

France demands investigation after 112 Palestinians killed during aid delivered more.

At least 30,228 Palestinians killed by Israeli military action in Gaza since 7 October - ministry

At least 30,228 Palestinians have been killed and 71,377 have been injured in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement.

Reuters reports the ministry gave the total casualties in the past 24 hours, which include casualties from the incident where Israeli troops are accused of firing at a crowd gathered to receive humanitarian aid, as 193 Palestinians killed and 920 injured.

Lebanon’s foreign ministry has echoed the earlier call from France for an independent inquiry into the killing of over 100 Palestinians in Gaza, yesterday while they were gathered to receive humanitarian aid.

In a statement, it condemned Israel for what it said was the “deliberate killing of dozens of defenseless Palestinian civilians and the wounding of hundreds”.

It said the events occurred “within the framework of the policy of starving and exterminating the Palestinian people en masse, which drives them to despair and adds fuel to the fire” and that they weakened “the chances of a just and comprehensive peace”.

It continued “The ministry also calls for the establishment of an international investigation committee to determine responsibilities and to prevent the party responsible for this crime from escaping accountability and punishment.”

Since 7 October there have been frequent exchanges of fire across the UN-drawn blue line that separates Israel and Lebanon.

We reported earlier that families of the hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza are on the third day of a march to Jerusalem calling for their release. [See 8.10 am GMTOrganizers]

There is also a demonstration taking place in Tel Aviv at the US embassy, calling for Joe Biden’s administration to work for the release of the hostages.

Organizers of the Tel Aviv demonstration claimed that the US president is “more committed to the issue of the hostages than the Israeli government”, and it called upon Biden to “apply pressure and save the abductees from Hamas captivity and the extremist government.”

Their statement continued “These are critical days, a deal is on the table, Ramadan is approaching and every hour must be used to bring about an orderly solution.”

Hebrew media site Ynet is also carrying some quotes from the relatives of the hostages on the march, with Robi Chen, the father of the kidnapped soldier Itai Chen, saying:

We are on the third day of our journey, we left with a spark of hope that soon there will be a deal at the door and we still have faith … we need the people of Israel to explain to our government that there is nothing more important than the kidnapped, and without them there is no total victory.

Politicians from 12 countries unite to press for an arms ban on Israel

Patrick Wintour

Patrick Wintour is the Guardian’s diplomatic editor

More than 200 MPs from 12 countries have committed themselves to trying to persuade their governments to impose a ban on arms sales to Israeltryorganized, arguing they will not be complicit in “Israel’s grave violation of international law” in its assault on Gaza.organizers letter, organized by Progressive International, is seen as the best practical measure possible to bring public anger over the 30,000 deaths of Palestinians in Gaza into the heart of parliaments, where calls for an immediate unconditional ceasefire have so far fallen on deaf ears or been rejected by national governments.

The organizers believe governments supplying arms are vulnerable to legal challenges given the scale of devastation in Gaza that they say extends beyond any definition of self-defense or proportionality.

The signatories are all MPs in parliaments where the governments allow arms sales to Israel. Nine are current or former leaders of political parties.

Read more here: Politicians from 12 countries unite to press for arms ban on Israel

Politicians from 12 countries unite to press for arms ban on IsraelRead more

In its latest update on the conflict in Gaza, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) had this to say about the food situation in the territory:

The risk of death from starvation in Gaza is reportedly growing, disproportionately affecting children and pregnant women, and is exacerbated by inadequate water, sanitation and health services, the severing of power and fuel supplies, and the decimation of food production and agriculture.

The entire food supply chain in Gaza has been severely disrupted with 97% of groundwater reportedly unfit for human consumption, about 27% of greenhouses destroyed, more than 40% of croplands and dozens of home barns, broiler farms and sheep farms damaged, more than 600 agricultural wells damaged, and the fishing sector grounded to a halt.

Here is our video report from yesterday which showed the aftermath of the mass deaths in Gaza, and includes some of the footage released by the IDF of the incident.

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