Special Operational Press Briefing by IDF Spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, March 2nd 2024

Below is the English Statement by IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari regarding the review of the incident involving a humanitarian aid convoy in northern Gaza and the IDF's ongoing humanitarian aid efforts:

"In the early hours of Thursday morning, the Israel Defense Forces facilitated a humanitarian operation to help bring aid to civilians in Northern Gaza.

This was the fourth night in a row that we facilitated such an operation — because we want humanitarian aid to reach Gazan civilians in need.

You see, our war is not against the people of Gaza. Our war is against Hamas:

It is Hamas who started this war on October 7th. It is Hamas that has caused immense suffering to civilians on both sides of the border.

The IDF has concluded an initial review of the unfortunate incident where Gazan civilians were trampled to death and injured as they charged to the aid convoy.

Our initial review has confirmed that no strike was carried out by the IDF towards the aid convoy.

The majority of Palestinians were killed or injured as a result of the stampede.

From the information we gathered from the commanders and forces on the ground, our initial review has indicated that following the warning shots fired to disperse the stampede, and after our forces had started retreating, several looters approached our forces and posed an immediate threat to them. According to the initial review, the soldiers responded towards several individuals.

As a professional military committed to international law, we are committed to examining our operations thoroughly.

We have opened an inquiry to examine the incident further, which will help us reduce the risk of such a tragic incident from occurring again during one of our humanitarian operations.

The incident will be examined in the Fact Finding and Assessment Mechanism: an independent, professional, and expert body.

For the sake of transparency, we will share updates as our examination develops, hopefully in the coming days.

I want to make something clear: Our war is against Hamas, not against the people of Gaza.

This is why we are facilitating aid; creating humanitarian corridors; establishing unilateral humanitarian pauses; and exercising caution in our use of force.

Israel and the international community are working together to enable the entry and distribution of humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza."