Flour massacre information

Flour massacre
Part of the Israel–Hamas war
Al-Nabulsi roundabout Location within the Gaza Strip
Native name	مجزرة الطحين (Arabic)
Location	Netzarim Corridor, Palestine
Coordinates	31°30′9.95″N 34°24′52.34″E / 31.5027639°N 34.4145389°E / 31.5027639; 34.4145389
Date	29 February 2024 (UTC+02:00)
Attack type	Massacre, mass shooting
Deaths	118+ Palestinian civilians[1][2][3]
Injured	760+ Palestinian civilians
Perpetrator	Israel Defense Forces[4]

The flour massacre^[5][6][7][8] (Arabic: مجزرة الطحين) occurred in the Gaza Strip on 29 February 2024 when at least 118 Palestinians were killed and 760 injured after Israeli forces opened fire on civilians seeking food from aid trucks on the coastal Al-Rashid Street in Gaza City.^[3][9][2] The incident was the deadliest mass casualty event to have taken place in the Gaza Strip since the start of Israel's operation during the Israel-Hamas war,^[10] and took place a day after the World Food Programme reported that more than 500,000 people were at risk of famine in Gaza.^[11]

Rumours had circulated that an aid convoy would be passing along Al-Rashid Street,^{[12][13][14][15][16]} and "thousands"^[17][18] of people had gathered there before dawn to intercept it.^[19][20] The crowd "descended on the line of vehicles as it travelled in darkness northwards along the coastal road".^[21] The convoy — an Israeli initiative using trucks supplied by Palestinian businessmen^[22] — "was moving towards the city centre"^[23] on its way to a "destination in northern Gaza".^[24]

The killing of humanitarian aid seekers and workers was a problem in Gaza during the Israel–Hamas war.^[25][26] Two days after the massacre, the UN called for investigation, stating it had "recorded at least 14 incidents involving shooting and shelling of people gathered to receive desperately needed supplies".^[27] Some also reported the plunder of aid convoys.^[28][29][30] The New York Times reported that "U.N. aid convoys carrying essential goods to northern Gaza have been looted, either by civilians fearing starvation or by organized gangs",^[31] while an Egyptian convoy driver said that "the trucks were often looted by Gazans because of the scarcity of aid in the enclave".^[32] On 20 February, a few days before the Al-Rashid Street incident, U.N. aid agencies announced that "food deliveries to war-torn northern Gaza had been suspended after looting attacks".^[33] Israel responded by organising a series of convoys itself, including the one on 29 February.^[22]

Israel says that its forces felt endangered from the crowds of Palestinians, firing warning shots in the air and then opened fire killing less than ten people,^[34] and that the rest were killed in an ensuing stampede.^[35] Survivors described the massacre as an ambush, stating that Israeli forces deliberately opened fire as people approached the aid trucks, resulting in a rush away from the gunfire that added to the death toll.^[7]

A CNN investigation reported that Israel's claims that the incident had begun after 4:30 a.m local time cast doubt on its narrative, as it had collected and analyzed footage from survivors, including one video showing that gunfire started seven minutes prior.^[10] It also reported that the Israeli military's publicized drone footage misses the moment capturing what caused the crowds to disperse, and that Israel had rejected its requests for the full unedited footage.^[10]

Officials from three hospitals respectively reported treating over 100, 142, and "dozens" of people with gunshot wounds,^[36][37][38] with a "large number of gunshot wounds" confirmed at al-Shifa Hospital by the United Nations.^[39][40] The Gaza Health Ministry dubbed the incident a massacre where 118 people were killed.^{[3][35][41][42][43]} Al Jazeera and CNN said the attack was part of a broader pattern of Israeli attacks on people seeking humanitarian aid.^[44][4]