Troops hid inside aid truck for deadly US-Israel operation in Nuseirat

News Desk

JUN 8, 2024

Israeli ground forces hid inside a truck used for the delivery of humanitarian aid to infiltrate the Nuseirat refugee camp on 8 June and perpetrate a new massacre of more than 200 Palestinians.

Footage aired by Al Jazeera TV shows the truck inside Nuseirat accompanied by armored tanks.

"A truck arrived carrying humanitarian aid and clothes, and suddenly 10 soldiers got out and shot me, once in the chest and twice in the feet. The artillery shelling started, and I saw dozens of citizens on the ground, including people with their heads cut off,” a Palestinian man who survived the massacre told reporters.

“The truck came from the American port that the occupation established in the Gaza Sea,” he adds.

Israeli media confirmed the troops hid inside a truck described as being used for “furniture delivery.”

“Israeli forces, including Shin Bet and the Israel Police special counterterrorism unit, Yamam, utilized a furniture delivery truck as cover to infiltrate the area near Al-Awda Hospital,” Israel Hayom reported in the hours following the bloody operation that saw the recovery of four Israeli captives.

The captives were withdrawn to the US-built floating pier using the same truck.

Gaza health officials have reported that over 200 Palestinians, the majority women and children, were killed during the operation that was launched with the assistance of the US army.

“We confirm that what was revealed by American and Hebrew media about American participation in the criminal operation that was carried out today,” Hamas said in a statement, adding that Washington's involvement “proves once again the complicit role of the American administration and its full participation in the war crimes committed in the Gaza Strip.”

“We call on our Arab and Islamic peoples, and the free people of the world, to put more pressure and escalate the movement denouncing the aggression and genocide in Gaza … We must work to stop it and bring its perpetrators to justice to hold them accountable for their crimes and killing of children and civilians in cold blood,” the statement adds.

Dr Tanya Haj-Hassan, a pediatric intensive care doctor with Doctors Without Borders (MSF), told Al Jazeera that Al-Aqsa Hospital “is a complete bloodbath … it looks like a slaughterhouse.” “There is blood everywhere. There are many people missing, extremities. It was so horrific."

“We will not stop working until all hostages come home and a ceasefire is reached. It is essential that it happens,” US President Joe Biden said from France. “The United States is supporting all efforts to secure the release of hostages still held by Hamas, including American citizens. This includes through ongoing negotiations or other means,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan added from Washington.

The spokesman for Hamas' armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said later on Saturday that the massacre in Nuseirat is a “complex war crime,” revealing that Israel also killed a number of the remaining captives.

“By committing horrific massacres, the enemy was able to free some of his captives, but at the same time, he killed some of them during the operation. The operation will pose a great danger to the enemy prisoners and will have a devastating impact on their conditions and lives,” the statement by Abu Obeida reads.

For their part, Israeli officials hailed their first successful captive rescue operation after eight months of a genocidal war.

“They said that this operation will be [under] very complicated and dangerous circumstances. I knew that, but without hesitation, I decided to do this operation because they were Israeli captives, and I trusted the heroes in Yamam and Shabak [special police commandos and internal security] who attacked and freed the captives,” Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said.

The recovery of the four captives also prompted opposition leader Benny Gantz to delay his impending resignation from Netanyahu's emergency government.

https://thecradle.co/articles/troops-hid-inside-aid-truck-for-deadly-us-israel-operation-in-nuseirat#