UN chief calls for independent investigation into killings of Palestinians awaiting aid in Gaza

By Merve Aydogan

TORONTO, Canada (AA) - The UN chief has called for an "independent and credible investigation" into Israeli killings of more than 100 Palestinian civilians awaiting aid in Gaza, said his spokesperson on Friday.

"The Secretary-General (Antonio Guterres) said himself yesterday, that there needs to be an independent and credible investigation into what happened," Stephane Dujarric said in a briefing.

There needs to be "accountability for everything (that) has happened since October 7," said Dujarric.

On Thursday, Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd of Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid at the Al Nabulsi roundabout on Al Rashid Street, a major coastal road to the west of Gaza City in northern Gaza, leaving at least 112 Palestinians dead and 760 injured.

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.

Dujarric further noted that a team of UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), World Health Organization and UNICEF staff visited the Shifa hospital in Gaza City.

"They brought with them medicines, vaccines and fuel to help ensure that the medical facility remains functioning," he said.

Stating that the hospital received more than 700 people who were injured while seeking life-saving aid on Thursday, Dujarric said the Shifa hospital told UN team that "they had received the bodies of more than 70 people who were killed yesterday."

He also added that the aid brought to the hospital was the first time that the UN "had a UN convoy able to deliver aid into northern Gaza in over one week."

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.