What we know so far about deadly aid truck incident in Gaza City
The Gaza health ministry says more than 100 Palestinians waiting for an aid delivery were killed and hundreds of others injured in Gaza, blaming Israeli forces.
The Israeli army has claimed at 4.40am the first aid truck in the humanitarian convoy made its way through a humanitarian corridor the IDF said it was securing on Al Rashid Road, west of Gaza City.
Israel Defence Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said Israeli tanks were there to secure the area, but during the operation a mob “ambushed the aid convoy bringing it to a halt”, and the IDF fired warning shots to “disperse the mob”, adding “no strike” was conducted towards the aid convoy.
While the situation continues to develop, using satellite images, videos released by the IDF, and footage shot from the ground, Sky News has pieced together a first indication of what happened.
Series of gun shots heard
Civilians were gathering to try to get food and medicine from aid truck deliveries – which in recent weeks have dramatically declined due to a collapse in security and difficulties coordinating their passage.
A video obtained by Al Jazeera shows a crowd appearing to flee and duck amid audible gunfire. It was filmed on a section of open ground just off Al Rashid Street, a further 200 metres northeast up the road.
The video is filmed outside in the dark – meaning it would have been taken before sunrise, which was around 6.10am local time.
Shouting can also be heard as people are seen climbing over what appears to be a vehicle as dozens hurry past the camera.
Aerial video indicates density of people gathered
The IDF released a series of monochrome aerial clips which show hundreds of people gathering towards trucks trying to receive food on Al Rashid Street. It is unclear exactly when the IDF footage was filmed.
The video shows an area adjacent to the intersection of Al Rashid Street and No 10 Street. Around 20 people in this clip appear to be not moving, and it’s not clear if they are dead, wounded or sheltering.
The second clip located was filmed just over 400 metres northeast along Al Rashid Street from the first. Also released by the IDF, it shows large crowds surrounding several trucks.
Together, the Al Jazeera and IDF videos were filmed over roughly 600 metres and show the events unfolded over a large area.
The location of this is notable due to its proximity to a newly established Israeli checkpoint and outpost, located around 400 metres south of the first video.
Bodies laying on vehicle
Aftermath video also located to the incident site where the IDF footage was filmed, shows a number of bodies lying on top of a vehicle.
Following the incident, medical teams said they were unable to cope with the volume and severity of the injuries, with dozens of wounded taken to the Al Shifa hospital – which is just under 4km from the incident site.
What has Hamas said?
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry has said at least 112 people were killed and several more injured during the aid delivery.
It claims the Gazans killed were fired on by the IDF.
What has Israel said?
Israel’s account of the incident is “not clear”, having given several “different versions of events”, Sky Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall said.
He said the incident happened in the early hours of the morning in darkness – adding to the confusion and difficulties trying to establish the truth of what happened.
In a five-minute statement on X, Mr Hagari said after the aid truck made its way through the humanitarian corridor at around 4.45am, “a mob ambushed the aid trucks, bringing the convoy to a halt”.
After seeing Gazans “being trampled” by the stampede, the IDF “tried cautiously to disperse the mob with a few warning shots in the air”.
“When hundreds [of Gazans] became thousands, the tank commander decided to retreat to avoid harm to the thousands of Gazans,” he said. “No IDF strike was conducted towards the aid convoy.”
This account contradicts earlier statements, however.
Initially, the IDF suggested a civilian truck driver had mown down Palestinians seeking aid during the stampede.
Separately “there was a suggestion that this was potentially Hamas stealing aid”, military analyst Sean Bell adds.
Kamel Abu Nahel went to the distribution point in the middle of the night, having heard there would be a delivery of food.
According to his eyewitness account, Israeli troops opened fire on the crowd as people pulled boxes of flour and canned goods off the trucks, causing them to scatter, with some hiding under cars.
After the shooting stopped, people went back to the trucks, and the soldiers opened fire again. He was shot in the leg and fell over, and then a truck ran over his leg as it sped off, he said, eventually seeking treatment at the Shifa Hospital.
What has been said elsewhere?
Thursday’s incident has drawn criticism from world leaders, who have demanded an investigation into what happened.
US President Joe Biden was asked if it complicated efforts for a ceasefire, to which he replied: “I know it will.”
French President Emmanuel Macron called for “justice and respect for international law” in a post on X.
Separately, the UN’s aid chief Martin Griffiths said he was “appalled” at the reported killings and injuries.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the incident on X, writing: “The desperate civilians in Gaza need urgent help, including those in the north where the UN has not been able to deliver aid in more than a week.”
Josep Borrell Fontelles, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, also posted: “I am horrified by news of yet another carnage among civilians in Gaza desperate for humanitarian aid. These deaths are totally unacceptable. Depriving people of food aid constitutes a serious violation of IHL [International Humanitarian Law].”
Aid in Gaza
The incident comes as aid groups say it has become nearly impossible to deliver humanitarian assistance in most of Gaza because of the difficulty of co-ordinating with the Israeli military and ongoing hostilities.
They also point to the breakdown of public order, with crowds of desperate people overwhelming aid convoys.
The UN says a quarter of Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians face starvation, and around 80% have fled their homes.
Aid deliveries to northern Gaza have been rare and chaotic, passing through more active military zones to an area where the UN says many people are starving, with videos showing desperate crowds surging around supply trucks including the one below filmed this month.
UN and other relief agencies have complained that Israel has denied attempts they have made to transfer humanitarian aid to northern parts of the enclave, restricting movement and communications.
Israel has denied any restrictions on humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza and has said the UN is responsible for failures to deliver supplies.
The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
Banned from Eurovision after its invasion of Ukraine, Russia will hold a rival international song contest on Saturday, with an emphasis on “traditional values”.
Instead of camp, think conservative – patriotic pop with a PG-rating.
“Intervision” was launched under the order of Vladimir Putin, with the hope it would serve as an expression of Moscow’s international pulling power.
Intervision decorations in Red Square, Moscow, ahead of the contest
There are contestants from 23 countries, which are a mixture of Russia’s allies old and new, including Belarus, Cuba and Tajikistan as well as China, India and Saudi Arabia.
The odd one out is the United States, who’ll be represented by an artist called “Vassy”. She’s not part of an official delegation, but an American voice is still a coup for the Kremlin, which will seek to use this contest as proof of the West’s failure to isolate Russia on the global stage.
‘War whitewash’
Intervision is not entirely new. It was originally launched in the 1960s as an instrument of Soviet soft power, before largely fading from view in the 1980s.
According to Moscow, its revival has nothing to do with politics. But Ukraine has condemned it as propaganda, and an attempt to whitewash Russia’s war.
It was a point I put to some contestants after their final press conferences, but it didn’t go down well.
“We don’t think like that, we are here to spread peace,” India’s Rauhan Malik told me, when I asked if his participation was a show of support for Russia’s invasion.
Malik, one of the contestants
“Are you not turning a blind eye to Russia’s aggression?” I countered.
“I have no idea about it,” he said. “I have no idea about the current situation that’s happening. I don’t want to speak about that as well.”
Eurovision legends Abba would almost certainly not make the Russian contest guest list. Pic: AP
Really? He had no idea? But before I could go on, I felt a forceful hand on my shoulder and a minder stepped in.
The intervention was even quicker when it came to speaking to Brazil’s act. As soon as I mentioned the word Ukraine, I was drowned out by shouts of “no, no, no, no” and the duo were ushered away.
Brazilian contestants, duo Luciano Calazans and Thais Nader
Where’s the glitter?
Intervision is not just a reaction to Russia’s recent exclusion from Eurosivion, however, it’s also a reaction to the contest’s values and what it’s come to represent.
Its celebration of sexual diversity and LGBTQ+ rights are seen as a symbol of what the Kremlin calls the West’s moral decline. In contrast, Intervision organisers say their contest will promote “traditional, family values.”
Judging by the costumes on show ahead of last week’s draw, that translates to less glitter, more embroidery, with a thematic emphasis on national heritage.
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So what do Russians think of Intervision’s resurrection? Can it replace Eurovision?
“We don’t miss Eurovision,” Galina and Tatiana say, underneath a collection of purple and pink ‘Intervision’ flags near Red Square.
“It was so horrible, especially lately. We didn’t like watching it at all.”
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Why are countries boycotting Eurovision?
Polina agrees, believing Russia’s version will be “more interesting”.
“Many countries that participated in Eurovision want to boycott it, so it’s interesting to see a more peaceful event now,” she says.
Igor is more circumspect. “I’d like to believe that this isn’t a political event,” he says, “but rather an event that unites nations and people.”
Intervision will succeed in uniting some nations. But at the same time, it may only deepen divisions with others – further evidence that Russia and the West are singing very different tunes.
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