Gaza convoy: IDF says it fired at 'suspects' but not at aid trucks

Gaza's health minister said 104 people were killed and 760 others were injured in the incident

An Israeli military report says troops did not fire at Palestinians around an aid convoy but at "suspects" nearby who they deemed a threat, during a deadly incident in Gaza last month.

The findings follow an investigation into the events in which more than 100 Palestinians were killed, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.

Palestinians accused Israel of shooting dead people at the convoy.

Israel has said most were killed being trampled or run over by the convoy.

The head of the UN, the EU and several countries have called for an independent investigation into the incident, which happened on 29 February at the Nabulsi roundabout on the south-western edge of Gaza City.

In the early hours of that morning, a convoy of lorries transporting aid was surrounded by crowds of Palestinians just after it had passed an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) checkpoint. During chaotic scenes, shots were fired by soldiers and IDF surveillance footage showed lorries, which had briefly stopped, moving forward, apparently running over Palestinians who had gathered around them in large numbers.

The health ministry said 118 people were killed and 760 others were injured in the incident. UN officials who visited Gaza City's al-Shifa Hospital, one of several hospitals where casualties had been taken, the following day said they had found a large number of people with bullet wounds.

On Friday, the IDF said it had presented the findings of a "command review" into the events to its Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi.

It said the review "found that IDF troops did not fire at the humanitarian convoy, but did fire at a number of suspects who approached the nearby forces and posed a threat to them".

According to the review, about 12,000 Palestinians gathered around the lorries and started looting them. It said that while this was taking place, "significant harm" was caused to civilians there from what it called a "stampede" and from people being run over.

It said while that was happening, dozens of people headed towards nearby IDF troops, reaching a distance of several metres from them, "and thereby posed a real threat to the forces".

"At this stage, the forces fired cautionary fire in order to distance the suspects. As the suspects continued to advance toward them, the troops fired precisely toward a number of the suspects to remove the threat," it said.

The incident is still under investigation by a Fact Finding and Assessment Mechanism - "an independent examination body" - the review said.

The events caused outrage around the world, and the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting to discuss it. An Algerian-led statement blaming Israel for the deaths was blocked by the US, according to the Palestinian UN ambassador afterwards.

Lorries have been transporting aid to assist Gazans suffering from widespread hunger since two weeks after the war began on 7 October, but the UN says deliveries meet only a fraction of the needs.

The war was triggered by an unprecedented attack on Israel by Hamas gunmen, who killed about 1,200 people - mainly civilians - according to Israeli tallies, and took 253 others back to Gaza as hostages.

Gaza's health ministry says nearly 31,000 people - mostly women and children - have been killed by Israel's offensive.