As international indignation over Israel’s attack mounts, French authorities have asked for an impartial investigation into the killing of over 100 Palestinians who were gathering food aid in northern Gaza. The attack, which took place at the Nabulsi roundabout in Gaza City on Thursday, left at least 115 people dead and over 750 injured. Israeli officials said that their soldiers fired because they were intimidated as people stormed the relief trucks, however witnesses claimed that Israeli soldiers opened fire as civilians gathered for flour. Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne declared that France would not treat the Israel-Palestine conflict with “double standards” in an interview with the national channel France Inter.
“To find out what happened, we will demand explanations and an impartial investigation,” Sejourne declared. Things are referred to by name in France. This is true when we label Hamas as a terrorist organization, but we also need to address injustices in Gaza by name. The Palestinian assistance seekers were “targeted by Israeli soldiers,” according to French President Emmanuel Macron, who also issued his “strongest condemnation of these shootings.”
While not denouncing the murders, US President Joe Biden stated that Washington was investigating “two competing versions” of the deaths and that the incident would make efforts to mediate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas more difficult. After the US objected to blaming Israel for the killings, the UN Security Council convened an emergency meeting behind closed doors late on Thursday night, but they did not release a statement denouncing the killings, diplomatic sources informed reporters. Before leaving the chamber, US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood denounced the fatalities, although he later claimed that his country “does not have all the facts on the ground.”
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