US steps up diplomatic pressure for a ceasefire after Gaza aid truck tragedy

The United States has stepped up its diplomatic pressure in the Middle East amid fears that the deaths of over a hundred Palestinians, on whom the Israeli army opened fire as they were trying to obtain humanitarian aid in Gaza, could derail ceasefire negotiations. This is one of the most serious episodes so far in the Gaza war and has unleashed a wave of criticism from leaders around the world. U.N. Secretary General António Guterres has called for an independent investigation into these deaths.

U.S. President Joe Biden, who was traveling to Texas to visit the Mexican border on Thursday, was asked by the reporters accompanying him about what happened. Specifically, they asked whether it would complicate the ceasefire talks in Qatar. “I know it would,” the U.S. president replied.

On Monday, Biden had predicted that a six-week ceasefire could be in place by March 4. But almost immediately, both Israel and the radical Palestinian militia Hamas rejected that possibility. Deaths in the crush for humanitarian aid have complicated matters further. With just three days before that deadline, the president has acknowledged that the humanitarian pause is unlikely to be achieved by then. “It probably won’t [be accomplished] by Monday, but I remain hopeful,” Biden said.

The U.S. president has stepped up contacts with leaders in the region to try to prevent the talks from breaking down. The White House has indicated that on Thursday Biden spoke on the phone with the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, who is hosting the negotiations, and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to address the event that killed at least 112 people near Gaza City.

According to a White House statement, Biden and the Arab leaders with whom he spoke on Thursday “agreed that the incident underscores the urgency of closing negotiations as soon as possible and expanding the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza.” The head of the U.S. humanitarian aid department (USAID), Samantha Power, is in the area to press for the greater inflow of assistance into the Gaza Strip, where there is a dire need for it.

Aboard Air Force One, where the president was traveling to Texas, White House spokeswoman Olivia Dalton indicated that the U.S. government has demanded information from Israel about what happened and called for a “thorough investigation.”

“We are checking what happened. But there are two versions of what happened. I don’t have an answer yet,” Biden said. The Israeli army, which fired on the crowd, blames the episode on a stampede and hit-and-runs by overwhelmed Gazan drivers, while the Palestinian Authority calls it a “heinous massacre.”

According to Dalton, Thursday’s deaths highlight the “need to expand humanitarian assistance to Gaza” and the imperative for Israel to put in place “viable” plans to protect civilians during its offensive in the Gaza Strip. “We have yet to see such plans put in place,” the spokeswoman maintained.

Criticism of Israel

On Friday, Josep Borrell, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Policy, posted on X, formerly Twitter, that he was “horrified” by the killing of civilians in Gaza who were trying to access humanitarian aid. “I am horrified by news of yet another carnage among civilians in Gaza desperate for humanitarian aid. These deaths are totally unacceptable. Depriving people of food aid constitutes a serious violation of IHL [international humanitarian law],” Borrell wrote.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said she was “appalled” by the tragedy and called for an investigation that “guarantees transparency.” However, her message, did not directly refer to the hundred or so victims, nor did she mention Israel.

French President Emmanuel Macron did speak somewhat more critically against Israel for the episode, which some Palestinian sources have already begun to call “the flour massacre,” a reference to the food that the humanitarian aid trucks were carrying. Macron has said he was “outraged” by the shooting and demanded “truth and justice” about the role of Israeli soldiers in the incident.

“Deep indignation at the images coming from Gaza where civilians have been targeted by Israeli soldiers. I express my strongest condemnation of these shootings and call for truth, justice, and respect for international law,” Macron posted on X.

Earlier, the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Penny Wong, had released a statement from her government on X, in which she used the same expression — “horrified” — as the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy: “Australia is horrified by [Thursday’s] catastrophe in Gaza and the ongoing humanitarian crisis that has led to it.” She also noted the importance of protecting civilians and defending humanitarian aid meant for those in “desperate need.”

The Ministry of Health in Gaza, which is controlled by the radical Palestinian militia Hamas, announced that the Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip has now surpassed 30,000. That is the equivalent of 1.3% of a population that was around 2.3 million people at the beginning of the conflict.

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