GAZA
– On Wednesday, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor revealed several developments
that confirm Israel’s full involvement in what has been dubbed the “Flour
Massacre,” referring to the killing of Palestinian civilians attempting to
receive humanitarian aid at dawn last Thursday.
اضافة اعلان
Euro-Med
Monitor said that its ongoing investigations into the horrific incident at the
Nabulsi roundabout, southwest of Gaza City, verify the Israeli Occupation
Forces (IOF) role in the massacre, citing evidence including the precise type
of bullets used and reiterating calls for an effective international
investigation to hold Israeli officials accountable.
Many
victims of the massacre suffered injuries from 5.56x45mm NATO bullets; this is
a type of bullet fired from IOF weapons. A sample of 200 dead and injured
victims revealed that this type of bullet indeed hit them and that the bullets
were discovered and examined at the massacre site along with shrapnel found in
the bodies of the wounded and dead.
Upon carrying out the requisite inquiry into
this particular bullet type, Euro-Med Monitor discovered that it is discharged
from assault rifles like the M4 and Tavor, along with machine guns (the light
machine gun, or LMG) such as the IWI Negev. Additional analysis of this
specific kind of ammunition revealed that 5.56x45mm ammunition is a basic FMJ
bullet used by the Israeli army. It has a boxer primer, WC-844 powder (26.1 g),
green steel tip and copper coating (62 grams (4.02 grams), average speed of 948
m/s (3,110 ft/s), and energy release of 1,797 J (1,325 ft/lbs.).
This type of bullet is occasionally imported
from the UK, produced in 2020/2022, and licensed for use by the Israeli
Ministry of Defense. Euro-Med added that this bullet is also manufactured in
Israel by IMI SYSTEMS, formerly known as the Israeli Military Industries
Company. This company manufactures weapons, ammunition, and military technology
and regularly supplies it to the IOF.
The testimony of Muhammad Yasser Washah, a
17-year-old resident of Gaza City’s Al-Sabra neighborhood who was present at
the Nabulsi roundabout during the massacre, was documented by Euro-Med Monitor.
Washah stated that a bullet hit the bag of flour he was carrying, but that,
luckily, although it went through the bag, it became lodged in his jacket.
After examining the bullet in question, Euro-Med Monitor discovered that its
form and dimensions were identical to those described above. Unlike other
bullets with diameters of 5.56 mm, this one has an exceptionally high ability
to penetrate 3 mm of steel despite not being considered armor-piercing.
According to recent testimonies documented by
the rights group from other individuals present at the massacre, the IOF
started directly shooting at civilians who were waiting for aid at 4:10 a.m. on
Thursday, February 29. At 5:30 a.m., the IOF raided the entire gathering, where
many people were lying injured, killed, or were attempting to flee. Many people
at the site were taken into custody, while others were forced to evacuate to
the south of the Gaza Strip. IOF directly executed others and left their bodies
on a nearby beach.
“We were shocked when Israeli soldiers showed up
and took a group of young men from Gaza [City],” an eyewitness who requested anonymity
due to safety concerns told the Euro-Med Monitor team. “While the majority of
them were fleeing to the beach, some were at the Nabulsi roundabout, others
were evacuated to the south, and still others were killed and left on the
beach.”
The eyewitness explained that the IOF soldiers
arrested a doctor, Muhammad Awad, and then released him. “After he moved
several steps away, they opened fire on him and wounded him in the shoulder…We
were under siege until 6:30 am, and the injured were pleading with us not to
leave them…The food and flour were covered in blood when I left.”
“I am a volunteer paramedic,” said a second
eyewitness, who also wished to remain anonymous due to safety fears. “In the
hopes of receiving assistance, I went to the Nabulsi roundabout. As a
precaution, I brought a first aid bag with me because I knew that similar
incidents had resulted in shootings.”
Shortly before 4:30 AM, the second witness told
Euro-Med Monitor that the trucks passed the checkpoint, and the IOF started
firing, throwing stun grenades and smoke bombs. The tank then advanced, and the
massacre occurred.
“I treated several injured people with first
aid. I discovered that some had suffered injuries to their chests while others
had suffered injuries to their limbs. While I was trying to pull out one of the
injured people, the tank came forward, and I was forced to flee the scene,”
added the second witness. “There was a large number of dead and injured
people.”
In an earlier statement, the Euro-Med monitor
said that its research teams had observed the event from the very first moments
and recorded that IOF tanks opened heavy fire on groups of Palestinian
civilians attempting to receive humanitarian aid west and south of Gaza City.
As a result, 112 civilians were killed, and 760 were injured, while many
victims are believed to remain in the targeted area.
The rights group highlighted four key pieces of
evidence confirming the IOF’s full involvement in killing and wounding starving
civilians, the first being the signs of injuries on the bodies of the dead and
injured. The second piece of evidence is the footage released by the IOF
itself, said Euro-Med Monitor, which includes audible evidence of gunfire
emanating from IOF tanks positioned near the coast.
Euro-Med Monitor also pointed to an aerial video
published by the IOF, which, despite being heavily edited, captures the state
of sheer panic and intimidation that struck all of the civilians
present—including those relatively far away from the aid trucks—and pushed them
to flee in all directions in order to seek shelter.
Euro-Med Monitor warned that the Israeli
shooting of starving Palestinian civilians receiving aid has become a regular
practice. In recent weeks, the IOF has directly attacked and killed dozens of
people in Gaza City, including on Salah Al-Din Street and in the vicinity of
the Kuwait roundabout, where it has occurred no less than twice since the Flour
Massacre. The most recent of these attacks was just last night, said the rights
organization when many civilians were injured by Israeli violence near the Kuwait
roundabout.
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said that starving
the people of Gaza, killing the starving people, and obstructing the entry and
distribution of humanitarian supplies, especially in Gaza City and the northern
Strip, demonstrates Israel’s aim of forcibly displacing the Palestinian people
there as part of its genocide, ongoing since 7 October 2023.
Euro-Med Monitor stressed that the IOF’s
extrajudicial executions and intentional, illegal killings of Palestinian
civilians who have not taken any part in hostilities amount to serious
violations of international humanitarian law and are war crimes and crimes
against humanity as defined by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal
Court (ICC). These crimes, which Israel has been committing against the Gaza
Strip’s people since October 7, violate the right of Palestinians to life in
accordance with international human rights law, and constitute acts of
genocide.
Euro-Med Monitor called for more effective and
decisive international intervention to ensure the safe, complete, and reliable
delivery of humanitarian supplies to the Gaza Strip, without any hindrance, and
thus guarantee the provision of and access to desperately needed essential
services and humanitarian assistance for all affected people there.
Read more Region and World
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
