Flour Massacre
The Flour Massacre occurred in the Gaza Strip on 29 February 2024, when at least 118 Palestinians were killed and 760 injured after Israeli forces opened fire while the Palestinians were seeking food from aid trucks on the coastal Al-Rashid Street in Gaza City.
The name Flour Massacre arises from the fact that many victims were found soaked in both flour and blood, symbolizing the humanitarian crisis and the deadly consequences of seeking basic sustenance in a conflict zone. The incident was the deadliest mass casualty event to have taken place in the Gaza Strip since the start of Israel's invasion, and took place a day after the World Food Programme reported that more than half a million Palestinians were at risk of famine in Gaza.
An aid convoy entered the northern Gaza Strip on the morning of the incident, with the trucks provided by Palestinian businessmen, and security and organization by Israel. Israel says that its forces felt endangered from the crowds of Palestinians, firing warning shots in the air and then opened fire killing less than ten people, and that the rest were killed in an ensuing stampede. Survivors described the massacre as an ambush, stating that Israeli forces deliberately opened fire as Palestinians approached the aid trucks, resulting in a rush away from the gunfire that added to the death toll.
A CNN investigation reported that Israel's claims that the incident had begun after 4:30 a.m. local time cast doubt on its version of events, as it had collected and analyzed footage from survivors, including one video showing that gunfire started seven minutes prior. It also reported that the Israeli military's publicized drone footage misses the moment capturing what caused the crowds to disperse, and that Israel had rejected its requests for the full unedited footage.
Officials from three hospitals respectively reported treating over 100, 142, and "dozens" of people with gunshot wounds, with a "large number of gunshot wounds" confirmed at al-Shifa Hospital by the United Nations. The Gaza Health Ministry dubbed the incident a massacre where 118 people were killed. Tareq Abu Azzoum, a correspondent for Al Jazeera, suggested the attack was part of a broader pattern of Israeli attacks on people seeking humanitarian aid.
Background
Since Hamas was elected in 2007, Gaza has been under an Israeli blockade which has restricted the flow of goods and movement in and out of the Gaza Strip. On 7 October, militants from Hamas broke into Israeli territory, killing over 1,200 Israelis, civilians and soldiers, with another 251 taken hostage. In response, Israel implemented a tightened complete blockade on Gaza, preventing the entry of any humanitarian aid on 9 October. By 18 October, Israel announced it would allow food, water, and medicine to be delivered to a "safe zone" in west Khan Younis in southern Gaza, distributed by the United Nations. Continued issues were seen with the delivery of aid into Gaza, with fluctuating numbers of trucks and aid parcels, destruction of convoy vehicles by the Israel Defense Forces, Israeli civilians and officials blocking aid in protests, and IDF statements that Hamas leadership was stockpiling and controlling the aid's distribution. On 27 January, the International Court of Justice issued preliminary measures ordering Israel to "enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance" to Gaza. In late February, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch stated Israel was failing to comply with this order.Concerns about the sparse amount of aid being allowed into Gaza and the chaos it could generate was highlighted by Jan Egeland of the Norwegian Refugee Council who described an aid delivery being looted by desperate civilians due to the low amount of aid. Israel also faced criticism for creating "lawlessness" after killing the Gaza police responsible for safeguarding humanitarian aid. The New York Times reported "spiraling lawlessness" and desperation in the area after Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip. Axios reported that armed gangs have been attacking and looting aid trucks since Hamas police have quit due to Israeli attacks.
On 18 February, the World Food Programme attempted to continue deliveries to the north, but desperate people in southern Gaza took most of the food. According to the United Nations in a report on 27 February more than half a million people in Gaza are on the brink of famine, with the UN World Food Programme warning of a real prospect of famine by May 2024. International aid groups have reported people in northern Gaza are already facing near famine levels of hunger. The Gaza Health Ministry has reported that northern Gaza is already in famine. Medical officials have reported a "significant number" of children have died due to malnutrition, and Palestinians in Gaza City have been eating grass and animal feed to survive. During February 2024, only 2,300 aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip, about half the number that entered in January and far below the 500 trucks per day before the war began. A spokesperson for the Palestine Red Crescent Society stated, "The lack of civil order contributed to around a 50 percent decrease in the total number of aid trucks entering Gaza in February." An Egyptian aid truck driver described people climbing and smashing aid trucks to take supplies, adding that there is a risk for drivers "because they are not secured at all."
Prior to the attack, there were multiple reports of Israeli attacks on humanitarian aid convoys and aid seekers. On 25 January 2024, the Gaza Health Ministry reported an Israeli attack on aid seekers had killed 20 and wounded 150. On 5 February, Israel bombed a truck loaded with food headed toward northern Gaza. On 6 February, Israeli forces opened fire on people waiting for food aid trucks in Gaza City. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stated it was the fifth report of Israel firing upon people waiting for humanitarian aid. On 20 February, at least one Palestinian civilian was killed while waiting to receive humanitarian aid. An Al Jazeera report on 27 February had found people seeking aid had faced "consistent" attacks by Israeli forces. The day before the attack, medical sources in Gaza City had reported that three people were killed while waiting for aid on al-Rashid Street.
The Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories stated that the first convoys carrying food to northern Gaza in a month had started that week, and that 31 trucks carrying food had entered northern Gaza the previous day. The UN was not involved in organising these convoys. Hani Mahmoud, a journalist in Gaza, said of the trucks that had reached northern Gaza: "Compared with the needs of the 600,000 people there, that is nothing."
After the incident, the IDF spokesperson stated that they had been delivering aid without problem for four days leading up to the incident, and that Israel has not put any limit on the amount of aid that can be delivered into Gaza. Humanitarian aid workers, however, described this characterization as "disingenuous". Israel has stated that the UN is to blame for the lack of delivery of humanitarian aid. The UN OCHA has rebuked those statements. The aid delivery was operated by private contractors as part of an Israeli operation which OCHA said was made without coordination with the U.N. The aid convoy was one of at least four convoys organized by Israel in a new collaboration with local Palestinian businessmen to northern Gaza, where international groups have paused the majority of operations, citing Israeli refusals to give clearance to aid trucks and increasing lawlessness. The trucks were provided by local businessmen, with security and organization done by Israel.
Event
Per an IDF spokesperson at approximately 4:45 am, eighteen to thirty humanitarian aid trucks that had been sent from surrounding countries arrived in northern Gaza after passing through the Kerem Shalom checkpoint on the southern-Gaza border with Israel. The Associated Press reported that it was not clear who had organized the delivery of aid. A representative from Ummah Welfare Trust told Sky News their partners on the ground had liaised with the Israelis for the delivery. The BBC reported that IDF tanks had escorted the trucks to the delivery location. The trucks began to travel through a humanitarian corridor that the IDF had secured. A large group of Palestinians rushed toward the aid trucks. Per a local journalist who witnessed the incident, the large crowds had gathered to wait for the aid and food to be disbursed from the trucks.Reports based on witness accounts describe shooting beginning at 4:30 a.m. and continuing over the next hour and a half. According to an IDF spokesperson, due to the chaos IDF troops and tanks stationed along and near the aid convoy fired warning shots in an attempt to disperse the crowd surrounding the aid trucks. The IDF then stated that after the convoy was able to clear the area, some of those that had rushed the convoy began to approach the IDF forces and tanks. In response, the IDF opened fire. Video of the crowd broadcast by Al Jazeera records the sound of gunfire and shows tracer ammunition over the crowd from the Israeli military position. Citing witnesses, CNN reported that civilians "swarmed" the aid trucks while "Israeli forces soon started shooting... The aid trucks tried to escape the area, accidentally ramming others and causing further deaths and injuries". Witnesses stated the "stampede" began only after the Israeli forces opened fire on the people seeking food. Al Jazeera reported on 5 March, "Accounts from the thousands of Palestinians who were there are clearer: Israeli forces fired indiscriminately into the crowd which killed dozens of people and led to a stampede in which more people died."
Gazan doctor Yehia Al Masri, who was near the scene of the incident, said he heard shelling and gunshots at around 4 am, and went outside to an intersection when the shooting subsided. He described seeing dozens of dead and injured people lying on the street with gunshot wounds to the head, neck, and groin, who were soaked in flour and blood. Journalist Mahmoud Awadeyah, who witnessed the incident, said there were many "people looking for something to eat... Israelis purposefully fired at the men... they were trying to get near the trucks that had the flour... They were fired at directly and prevented people to come near those killed." Al Jazeera journalist Ismail al-Ghoul reported that "Israeli tanks advanced and ran over many of the dead and injured bodies." Local journalist Khadeer Al Za'anoun, who witnessed the incident, said that chaos and confusion only began once Israeli forces opened fire, which led to people being hit by aid trucks. According to Al Za’anoun, "Most of the people that were killed were rammed by the aid trucks during the chaos and while trying to escape the Israeli gunfire." One aid truck was used to carry the wounded to al-Shifa Hospital.
One injured survivor, Kamel Abu Nahel, said that Israeli soldiers opened fire on the crowd as people were taking food out of trucks, causing them to scatter. Another survivor stated people in front of him were shot by Israeli snipers who "targeted their heads, elbows and knees". Other survivors described the attack as an ambush, stating they were shot by attack drones, naval forces, and armoured vehicles. One survivor stated, "Once we approached the aid trucks, the Israeli tanks and warplanes started firing at us as if it was a trap". Multiple survivors described being directly targeted by Israeli fire. After the shooting stopped, the people returned to the trucks and the soldiers opened fire again.