After posting the adjacent item on the alleged IDF “massacre” of more than 100 Gazans yesterday, I received the Jewish Insider’s Daily Kickoff newsletter with this account of the events:
More than 100 people were killed when a crowd converged on an aid convoy in the Gaza Strip on Thursday and in a nearby confrontation between IDF soldiers and Palestinian men, in what an Israeli official with knowledge of the incidents described as a “completely unprecedented” set of events. “We’ve seen big groups of people running toward aid convoys, but nothing on this scale,” the official told Jewish Insider Executive Editor Melissa Weiss.
The convoy that came under the swarm of people was, the official described, “a very properly coordinated aid convoy with local contacts.” As the convoy passed through Gaza City early Thursday morning, thousands of people began to converge on the convoy.
“They literally physically trampled each other and ran over each other and beat each other,” the official continued. “And then Hamas started shooting at them.” The terror group aims to resell some of the convoy’s goods at a high markup, the official said.
“We did not fire at the humanitarian convoy, we secured it,” IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari emphasized in a briefing yesterday evening. “The tanks that were there to secure the convoy saw the Gazans being trampled and cautiously tried to disperse the mob with a few warning shots,” Hagari said. “You can see [in a video released by the IDF] how cautious they were when they were backing up. They were backing up securely, risking their own lives, not shooting at the mob.”
Nearby, a group of IDF soldiers guarding the convoy opened fire on a group of men approaching the battalion. First, the official said, the IDF troops fired in the air to warn the men off, but the men continued running toward the battalion.
An estimated 10 Palestinians were killed in the confrontation with Israeli troops, according to the IDF, and the rest of the casualties were caused by the stampede and confrontation near the convoy.
JI’s Daily Kickoff site is here. This account is included in this morning’s edition (with links).
UPDATE: Times of Israel editor David Horovitz considers the ensuing complications in this column.
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