Pressure mounts for inquiry into Gaza shooting

Pressure mounted on Israel on Friday over the deaths of dozens of Palestinians during a confused incident in the Gaza Strip in which crowds surrounded a convoy of aid trucks and soldiers opened fire, with several countries backing a UN call for an inquiry.

Gaza health authorities said Israeli forces had killed more than 100 people trying to reach a relief convoy near Gaza City early on Thursday, with famine looming nearly five months into the war.

Israel blamed most of the deaths on crowds that swarmed around aid trucks, saying victims had been trampled or run over. An Israeli official also said troops had "in a limited response" later fired on crowds they felt had posed a threat.

Although the accounts of what happened differed sharply, the incident has underscored the collapse of orderly aid deliveries in areas of Gaza occupied by Israeli forces, with no administration in place and the main UN agency UNRWA hamstrung by an inquiry into alleged links with Hamas.

"We've asked the government of Israel to investigate, and it's our assessment that they're taking this seriously," US national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Friday.

"They are looking into what occurred, so as to avoid tragedies like this from happening again." He said the Biden administration trusted Israel to complete its own investigation, adding that "we don't have enough information" to verify its account of what happened.

With a humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza, many countries have urged a ceasefire, but US President Joe Biden said Thursday's incident will complicate talks for a deal involving a truce and hostage release.

India said it was "deeply shocked" at the deaths and Brazil said the incident was beyond "ethical or legal limits."

South Africa, which has brought a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, condemned the deaths. Israel denies genocide.

France and Germany have backed a call for an international inquiry. French President Emmanuel Macron voiced "deep indignation" and the "strongest condemnation of these shootings". Germany said "the Israeli army must fully explain how the mass panic and shooting could have happened."

The European Union called for an investigation and a humanitarian ceasefire, while UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for an "independent and effective investigation".

The spokesman for the Secretary-General, Stephane Dujarric, said that a United Nations team visited wounded people at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Friday, and examined “a large number of gunshot wounds.” He added that 200 wounded are still in the hospital, out of more than 700 who were transferred there.

In Israel, ultra-rightwing security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir urged "total support" to Israeli soldiers who had "acted excellently against a Gazan mob that tried to harm them".

A columnist in the biggest daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said the incident would "create a turning point in the war" and could "exert international pressure that Israel will not be able to withstand, including from the White House".

AID AIRDROP

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden announced that his country will participate "in the coming days" in airdropping humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

Several countries have previously landed aid shipments by air, especially Jordan, with support from countries including France, the Netherlands, and Britain, as well as Egypt, which on Thursday landed aid shipments in cooperation with the United Arab Emirates.

Commenting on the announcement, the International Rescue Committee (IRC), a non-governmental organisation, said, “Airdrops cannot and should not replace securing humanitarian access.”

A total of 30,320 Palestinians have been confirmed killed and 71,533 others injured in Israel's military offensive on the Gaza Strip since October 7, the Gaza Health Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.