More than 127 Palestinians killed by Israeli army in Gaza ‘flour massacre’

By Anadolu staff

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - The Israeli army recently killed more than 127 Palestinians and wounded over 760 in just two days by targeting civilians who were desperately trying to obtain humanitarian aid, despite the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordering Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Due to the war launched by Israel on Oct. 7 last year and Israeli restrictions, Palestinians, especially in Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip, are on the brink of famine, which has already claimed the lives of children amid severe shortages of food, water, medicine and fuel, with nearly two million residents of the enclave’s total population of about 2.3 million displaced.

On Jan. 26, the Netherlands-based ICJ, the highest judicial body of the United Nations, ordered Israel to take measures to prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians and improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza in a lawsuit brought by South Africa.

Last Thursday, however, Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd of Palestinians waiting for trucks carrying aid at the Al-Nabulsi roundabout area south of Gaza City.

The ICJ adjudicates disputes between states and its orders are legally binding, but it has no means of enforcing its judgments.

The Israeli army claimed that members of the crowd approached its soldiers, putting them at risk, so they responded by opening fire.

Describing them as “heroes,” Israel’s far-right extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir expressed support for the soldiers.

The “flour massacre” has sparked angry reactions from Arab, regional and international communities as well as calls for an independent investigation and action by the UN Security Council.

Medical sources and eyewitnesses told Anadolu that the Israeli army also targeted a humanitarian aid truck in the city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza on Sunday, killing nine Palestinians and wounding several others.

Condemning the truck attack, the Palestinian resistance group Hamas said the targeting represents “the criminal entity's insistence on continuing its war of genocide and ethnic cleansing.”

It added that “deliberate starvation and deepening the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip and depriving our people of any assistance is one of the pillars of the Israeli war on Gaza.”

The Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that the Israeli army bombed Palestinians while they were waiting for humanitarian aid near the Kuwait roundabout in Gaza City, resulting in “dozens of martyrs and injuries.”

It emphasized that “the Israeli occupation forces are carrying out systematic genocide crimes targeting hundreds of thousands of hungry stomachs in northern Gaza.”

Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed 30,410 people and injured 71,700 others with mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

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.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala