Israel's Gaza aid attack 'another crime against humanity': Türkiye
The body of a Palestinian killed in an early morning incident when Israeli forces opened fire on crowds waiting at an aid distribution point in Gaza City, Feb. 29, 2024. (AFP Photo)


Türkiye on Thursday said Israel has committed yet "another crime against humanity" after Israeli forces shot dead more than 100 Palestinians as they waited for aid delivery in Gaza, which is experiencing a devastating humanitarian catastrophe due to Tel Aviv's ruthless blockade.

"Israel has added another crime to its crimes against humanity," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"The fact that Israel, which has condemned Gazans to famine, this time targets innocent civilians in a queue for humanitarian aid, is evidence that (Israel) aims consciously and collectively to destroy the Palestinian people," it added.

The death toll of Palestinians killed by the Israeli army while waiting for humanitarian aid on Thursday rose to 112 and is likely to climb, the enclave's Health Ministry told Anadolu Agency (AA).

Before it becomes a "global catastrophe with repercussions far beyond the region," Türkiye urges those with influence over Israel to stop ongoing atrocity in Gaza, the statement said.

"Israel must end its military operation in Gaza immediately. But the Israeli government does not have the common sense or the conscience to take this decision," it added.

The attack occurred at dawn as hundreds of Palestinians were waiting to receive the aid near the al-Nablusi roundabout area, south of Gaza City, when they came under Israeli fire, according to witnesses.

The loss of civilian lives was the biggest in weeks.

The U.S. is urgently seeking information on what took place, the State Department said, adding Washington will push for answers from Israel, which said it is investigating.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said it was an "ugly massacre conducted by the Israeli occupation army on people who waited for aid trucks at the al-Nabulsi roundabout."

The U.N. condemned the deaths and injuries. It said it had not been able to deliver supplies to Gaza's north in more than a week and was not involved in the distribution.

In a post on social media platform X, U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths said he was "appalled," adding: "Even after close to five months of brutal hostilities, Gaza still has the ability to shock us."

The chief of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said they had not been involved in Thursday's aid delivery and called it "another day from hell."

Israel has launched a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, which Tel Aviv says killed less than 1,200 people.

More than 30,000 Palestinians have since been killed, and more than 70,457 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the U.N.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.