Gaza's aid convoy 'massacre' shows how desperately we need a ceasefire

By Marc Champion

Not for the first time, we don’t have all the facts about an alarming incident in Gaza, in which more than 100 people are said to have been killed and hundreds more wounded. But we know enough: Thousands of hungry Palestinians swarmed 38 aid trucks on Thursday, Israeli forces fired shots, killing at least some people, while at least some others were crushed in the melee that followed.

That is the Israel Defense Forces story of its involvement. Other reports, based on statements by Hamas and the hospitals it runs, claim IDF servicemen fired deliberately into the crowd in a “massacre” that saw most casualties treated for bullet or shrapnel wounds. All claims are as yet unverified, and caution should be used before jumping to conclusions about how this disaster unfolded around an aid convoy that Israel had organized and was escorting.

We don’t, however, need the full details to understand what should happen next.

The IDF’s statement described the crowd as a “mob” that ambushed and looted the convoy. This language undermines the credibility of the military and glides over the fact that its tactics have made what happened on Thursday inevitable. First, though the IDF says it is getting as much aid as it can into Gaza to feed and care for its 2 million-plus people, only a fraction what’s needed is entering daily. People are starving, and parents will do whatever it takes for their children to eat. These were people in a desperate situation, not opportunists looting TVs.

Second, more than 85 per cent of Gaza’s population has been displaced, many with their homes destroyed. Law and order has collapsed, along with public services and utilities. There is no large-scale, predictable means of distributing what little aid and medicine is finding its way to the enclave, an issue the IDF spokesman acknowledged. If that doesn’t change soon, expect more such “mob” scenes.

Third, with no pause in hostilities, the IDF said its tanks were accompanying the convoy to create a safe corridor. There’s no reason to doubt this, but it was these same tanks that fired warning shots to disperse the crowd. I have been just a few steps away from an infantry fighting vehicle when its cannon fired a warning over my head. It was terrifying because, in the moment, there was no way to know whether the crew was shooting to kill or miss. At such short range, the noise of the blast also has a physical impact of its own, and the large-caliber rounds fired by a mounted cannon are a fraction of a tank shell’s size. So, if the result of close-quarter tank fire didn’t panic the convoy’s truck drivers into lurching forward to escape, at the risk of running people over, I’d be surprised.

Finally, the IDF has released drone footage of ant-like crowds swarming the trucks, but it’s very difficult to understand how people died from these images. All we know for sure is that the IDF also says troops stationed behind the last aid truck opened fire on Palestinians who broke away and started moving toward their checkpoint, first with warning shots and then shooting at their legs. According to reports in Israeli media, the military has acknowledged that up to 10 people died as a direct result of IDF fire.

Whatever an investigation eventually finds, two things should happen now. The first is these deaths should be the imperative that drives Israel and Hamas to an immediate, if temporary cease-fire, providing time to ameliorate some of the conditions that now threaten hunger, disease and chaos. This could begin even before the thorny details of a hostages-for-prisoners swap are agreed.

A respite wouldn’t just be in the interests of the Palestinians but also of Israel, which has pledged to move hundreds of thousands of people from Rafah before it begins an offensive there. Those people cannot be moved without a pause to organise food and shelter, or we will see versions of Thursday’s tragedy play out on a much larger scale, with Israel carrying the can.

It isn’t just Israel, though, that needs to be put under pressure. Hamas responded to the convoy deaths with a statement warning that a cease-fire could now be derailed, because this must not be conducted “at the expense of the blood of our people.” This is a grotesque manipulation: Any pause in the shooting would save civilian lives. The statement should serve as a reminder that Hamas is every bit as responsible for the Palestinian death toll as the IDF. The group started this war on Oct 7 in a manner so savage that it was calculated to bring a maximalist response, and Hamas has treated civilians as human shields since.

The second conclusion for Israel to draw is it should pay attention to this week’s letter, signed by 55 British and American journalists, in which they ask for access to Gaza so they can do their jobs. All militaries like to control the flow of information from the battlefield, but most are much more open to embeds and other forms of media access than the IDF has been. Opening up carries risks, in that much of what Israel disputes might be confirmed. But it also brings opportunities: When falsely accused, perhaps about its role in Thursday’s alleged massacre, the IDF would be able to get independent voices to prove its case.

Media access may not seem important in a week when the Palestinian fatalities claimed by Gaza’s Hamas-run health authority have just passed 30,000, with an estimated two-thirds of those civilians. But more credible and reliable accounts of facts on the ground are vital, and would by no means always be to Israel’s detriment.