‘Deep indignation’: Macron condemns Israeli killing of civilians waiting for aid in Gaza

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the Israeli killing of more than 100 civilians waiting for aid in the besieged Palestinian enclave of Gaza.

“Deep indignation at the images reaching us from Gaza where civilians have been targeted by Israeli soldiers,” Macron said on X.

“I express my strongest disapproval of these shots and demand truth, justice and respect for international law,” he added.

On Thursday, at least 112 Palestinians were killed and 760 others injured when Israeli forces opened fire at a crowd waiting for humanitarian aid south of Gaza City, said the Gaza-based Health Ministry.

The Israeli military said an initial investigation found that Palestinians approached a military checkpoint overseeing the entry of the aid trucks when soldiers fired warning shots and shot at the legs of Palestinians who continued to move toward the troops.

French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said that the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, with soaring civilian death toll, immense destruction by Israel and lack of food and water is “unacceptable,” when he spoke to public broadcaster France Inter radio on Friday morning.

“We will support the UN's call for an independent investigation into last night's unjustifiable events in Gaza,” Sejourne told France Inter radio.

Israel has launched a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, which Tel Aviv says killed nearly 1,200 people.

At least 30,035 Palestinians have since been killed and 70,457 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.