<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail-top-anchor"></div>
<div id="gmail-toolbar" class="gmail-toolbar-container">
</div><div class="gmail-container" lang="en-US" dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail-header gmail-reader-header gmail-reader-show-element">
<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/palestine-chronicle-speaks-to-the-survivors-of-gazas-flour-massacre-special-report/">palestinechronicle.com</a>
<div class="gmail-domain-border"></div>
<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Palestine Chronicle Speaks to the Survivors of Gaza’s ‘Flour Massacre’ - SPECIAL REPORT</h1>March 2, 2024</div>
<hr>
<div class="gmail-content">
<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div>
<img src="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/FlourMassacre_QNN.png" alt="" title="FlourMassacre_QNN" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" width="423" height="284" style="margin-right: 25px;">
Israeli forces shelled hundreds of Palestinians awaiting humanitarian aid. (Photo: via QNN)
<p><strong>By <a href="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/abdallah-aljamal" title="Display all articles for Abdallah Aljamal - Gaza">Abdallah Aljamal – Gaza</a></strong></p>
<blockquote>
<h3><span>The Palestine Chronicle spoke with three survivors of what has
been called the ‘flour massacre’, which resulted in the killing and
wounding of nearly 1,000 Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid.</span></h3>
</blockquote>
<p><span>“We were surprised by the occupation’s gunfire and the killing of dozens while we were waiting for food aid”.</span></p>
<p><span>This is what Jihad Rajab, a survivor of the ‘flour massacre’, told The Palestine Chronicle. </span></p>
<p><span>At least 112 Palestinians were killed and more than 750 wounded
on Thursday, February 29, after Israeli troops opened fire on hundreds
of Palestinians waiting for food aid at the Nabulsi Roundabout, in the
Sheikh Ajleen district, southwest of Gaza City.</span></p>
<p><span>‘As We Waited for the Trucks’ </span></p>
<p><span>Rajab, along with his cousin, went to the roundabout to wait
for humanitarian trucks, with the hope that they could finally obtain
some flour. </span></p>
<p><span>“For over two months, my family hasn’t tasted bread,” Rajab told us, “this is why we decided to go.”</span></p>
<p><span>“The trucks were supposed to arrive on Wednesday. However, we
waited for the whole day and nothing came. We all decided to sleep there
and wait for the trucks,” he continued. </span></p>
<p><span>“We were sitting on the beach and it was extremely cold. But
hunger was stronger than anything else and thousands of people gathered
there to get some food. There is nothing to eat in Gaza City and we are
living in difficult conditions”,</span></p>
<p><span>“As soon as the trucks entered the area, Israeli forces started
firing heavily, resulting in the killing and wounding of scores of
people,” Rajab said. </span></p>
<p><span>“The occupation did not spare us, and they deliberately fired at us as we were awaiting the aid convoy,” he added.</span></p>
<h4><b>‘The Occupation Killed Us Twice’</b></h4>
<p><span>“Despite my old age, I was standing in line after a very cold
night, like all residents of Gaza City,” Hajj Mahmoud Daghmash told The
Palestine Chronicle. </span></p>
<p><span>“We had been waiting for hours when we finally spotted the
trucks. At that very moment, the Israeli occupation opened fire at us
with gunfire and artillery shelling,” Daghmash continued.</span></p>
<p><span>“Fear filled all our hearts, and people started running
everywhere. We didn’t know where to hide. The screams of the wounded,
women, and children were heard everywhere.”</span></p>
<p><span>“The occupation killed us twice,” Daghmas explained: “Once when it shelled our homes, and then again by starving us.” </span></p>
<p><span>“I can endure hunger, but my children and family cannot, and it
is extremely painful not being able to provide for my children and
family. All the people in that line were only hoping to return to their
families with a bag of flour. Instead, over 100 people returned as
martyrs, and more than 800 returned as wounded.”</span></p>
<p><span>Daghmas explained that after over one month the occupation had
allowed trucks to enter and classified the Sheikh Ajleen area as the
only corridor for aid.</span></p>
<p><span>“This is a new war crime committed by the occupation against innocent civilians in the Gaza Strip,” he concluded.</span></p>
<h4><b>‘Children Crying from Hunger’</b></h4>
<p><span>Yahya Salamia was also among the Palestinians waiting for
humanitarian trucks in Gaza City. He was particularly outraged when he
realized how Israel tried to distort the facts and claim that
Palestinians posed a threat to the military vehicles.</span></p>
<p><span>“We were all civilians, unarmed. We only wanted to return to our families with a bag of flour and some food,” he told us.</span></p>
<p><span>“Ben Gvir bragged about the massacre and thanked the soldiers.
This is the biggest evidence that the occupation continues to commit
genocide against the people of Gaza,” Salamia continued.</span></p>
<p><span>“The occupation tries to deny the charge of genocide in the
International Court of Justice, but every day it commits dozens of
crimes and works with all its might to exterminate the people of Gaza
and displace them from their lands.”</span></p>
<p><span>Salamia also said that the cameras documented part of the
massacre and that footage confirmed that Israel deliberately killed
civilians as they attempted to obtain flour from the trucks. </span></p>
<p><span>“Yes, I returned to my family safely, and I escaped death, but I failed to provide food for them,” he said. </span></p>
<p><span>“My heart aches for all those who were martyred and injured in
the massacre, and I am deeply saddened because I couldn’t provide food
for my family.”</span></p>
<p><span>Salamia called on the world to intervene to stop Israeli crimes, and bring food to the people of Gaza, especially in the north. </span></p>
<p><span>“We are dying of hunger every moment, and death from hunger is
more painful than death from bombing. The crying of children from hunger
does not stop, and we have nothing to feed them. Save our children, and
stop the occupation’s crimes against us.”</span></p>
<p><em><span>(The Palestine Chronicle)</span></em></p>
<div>
<p><br></p>
<p><span>–<i> Abdallah Aljamal is a Gaza-based journalist. He is a correspondent for The Palestine Chronicle in the Gaza Strip.</i></span></p></div>
</div></div></div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div></div>
</div>
</div>