(This is a bit long but I didn't make it into a thread; hope that's ok!)
I don't think we will ever know the full extent of what happened before and during the Flour Massacre. Famine is hell, war is hell, and the people with the best evidence about the extent of the events (the IDF) are not trustworthy.
But we do have very good reason to believe that the official Israel Defense Forces line is a lie, even after their story changing.
Several journalists on site have reported that IDF soldiers fired directly on civilians seeking aid - civilians, mind you, who are extremely hungry and at risk of famine already.
This much, after some initial denials, was confirmed by the IDF, justified by the fact that the civilians were approaching the aid convoys in a threatening way.
I have seen it reported that between 80-95% of the injuries that have resulted in hospitalization were from bullet wounds (according to the UN and to a nurse, respectively). Keep in mind that this doesn't include those who died on site. The IDF has said that the bulk of the injuries were a result of a stampede caused by IDF 'warning shots'. Multiple independent sources (linked below) have shown that this isn't true.
The firing on civilians was not a one-off, according to the NY Times - instead, it happened again and again from between 3am-4am until 7am, on several occasions when Palestinians approached aid trucks.
Some, so desperate for something to eat, continued to move toward the aid trucks even while being fired on.
The IDF also initially claimed that the firing on the crowd was done by Palestinian militants, which a NY Times investigation has also shown likely to be false, since the direction of the gunfire matches the position of Israeli soldiers and tanks.
Was this, as many claim, an intentional and premeditated war crime, aimed to further reduce the population of the Gaza Strip? Or was it a result of scared 18-19 year old IDF soldiers, told over and over again that every Palestinian man and teenager is a potential threat, and that in the event of mistakes the institutional actors in charge will be sure to protect them such that accountability is not a concern?
Does it matter?
1/2
Preston Werner /
npub1h9…lgwgx
2024-03-02 10:32:03
Author Public Key
npub1h9cgph0hgs96qeu5fdwzu4dk527msgwapxrvxktuugg053tw8dasjlgwgxPublished at
2024-03-02 10:32:03Event JSON
{
"id": "d588cc11e8a9eb5b45af69ad0201eecbfc565181355022faadd4b29345e4421a",
"pubkey": "b97080ddf7440ba067944b5c2e55b6a2bdb821dd0986c3597ce210fa456e3b7b",
"created_at": 1709375523,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [
[
"content-warning",
"Israel; Gaza"
],
[
"proxy",
"https://fediphilosophy.org/users/pjw/statuses/112025634325770977",
"activitypub"
]
],
"content": "(This is a bit long but I didn't make it into a thread; hope that's ok!) \n\nI don't think we will ever know the full extent of what happened before and during the Flour Massacre. Famine is hell, war is hell, and the people with the best evidence about the extent of the events (the IDF) are not trustworthy. \n\nBut we do have very good reason to believe that the official Israel Defense Forces line is a lie, even after their story changing. \n\nSeveral journalists on site have reported that IDF soldiers fired directly on civilians seeking aid - civilians, mind you, who are extremely hungry and at risk of famine already. \nThis much, after some initial denials, was confirmed by the IDF, justified by the fact that the civilians were approaching the aid convoys in a threatening way. \n\nI have seen it reported that between 80-95% of the injuries that have resulted in hospitalization were from bullet wounds (according to the UN and to a nurse, respectively). Keep in mind that this doesn't include those who died on site. The IDF has said that the bulk of the injuries were a result of a stampede caused by IDF 'warning shots'. Multiple independent sources (linked below) have shown that this isn't true. \n\nThe firing on civilians was not a one-off, according to the NY Times - instead, it happened again and again from between 3am-4am until 7am, on several occasions when Palestinians approached aid trucks. \n\nSome, so desperate for something to eat, continued to move toward the aid trucks even while being fired on. \n\nThe IDF also initially claimed that the firing on the crowd was done by Palestinian militants, which a NY Times investigation has also shown likely to be false, since the direction of the gunfire matches the position of Israeli soldiers and tanks. \n\nWas this, as many claim, an intentional and premeditated war crime, aimed to further reduce the population of the Gaza Strip? Or was it a result of scared 18-19 year old IDF soldiers, told over and over again that every Palestinian man and teenager is a potential threat, and that in the event of mistakes the institutional actors in charge will be sure to protect them such that accountability is not a concern? \n\nDoes it matter? \n\n1/2",
"sig": "251d4bb8cc4141884636989cfb71e1064d200f8eae368a9515cd7fb5e1a74f7d69a67fde6367ad007f7bc98762c469d2662e8fa2524ae6209a030e6a158fbac7"
}