By Janet Ekstract NEW YORK -On Friday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres slammed the latest incident in Gaza where Palestinians surrounded aid trucks where its alleged that Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) began firing on innocent civilians. The Hamas-run Health Ministry claims the IDF acted with malice intentionl to “massacre” Palestinians desperate for aid after days of starvation and malnutrition. Guterres is calling for an investigation into the incident along with other countries in which over 200 people were killed and more than 760 were injured on Thursday, waiting for aid trucks. Israel is backtracking on the accusations, claiming that most people died in the crush on the rush to the trucks. EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell said it’s “totally unacceptable carnage” while French President Emmanuel Macron said civilians were “targeted by Israeli soldiers.”
Meanwhile, the U.N. chief wrote on social media: “I condemn Thursday’s incident in Gaza in which more than 100 people were reportedly killed or injured while seeking live-saving aid.” He added: “The desperate civilians in Gaza, need urgent help, including those in the north where the U.N. has not been able to deliver aid in more than a week.” France, Italy and Germany on Friday, also called for an independent investigation on the details of the aid convoy death.s. This prompted the U.N. Security Council to meet closed-door in an emergency meeting to discuss the incident. During that meeting, Algeria – the Arab representative of the body, submitted a draft statement finding Israeli forces to blame for “opening fire.” Even though 14 of the Council’s 15 members supported the motion, it was blocked by the U.S. according to news reports that cited the Palestinian U.N. ambassador Riyad Mansour who spoke to the press following the meeting. In the meantime, US. Envoy Robert Wood said that the facts still remain unclear as to what exactly took place.
While 14 of the Council’s 15 members supported the motion, the US blocked it, according to AP news agency, citing the Palestinian UN ambassador Riyad Mansour who spoke to reporters afterwards. US envoy Robert Wood said the facts of the incident remained unclear. Eyewitnesses at the Nabulsi roundabout where an aid delivery was being made, said Israeli soldiers opened fire. According to reports, a convoy of 30 aid trucks with aid from Egypt was following the “humanitarian corridor” when the IDF claims people began “violently pushing and trampling” which Hamas claims is totally false.
