Pressure on Netanyahu after probe holds him accountable for 2021 crowd crush
A probe into Israel’s worst civilian disaster found PM Netanyahu “bears personal responsibility” for the deadly 2021 crowd crush which killed 45 Jewish pilgrims. It found that Netanyahu’s office had been forewarned of hazards at a pilgrimage site but did not act to address them.
The probe looked into the April 2021 pilgrimage to a rabbi’s tomb at Mount Meron near the Lebanese border attended by tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews. A crush occurred when crowds of pilgrims got stuck in a narrow entrance to the tomb.
Medics respond to a crowd crush at the tomb of a second-century rabbi in Mount Meron, Israel, on April 30, 2021
The probe’s finding further adds to pressure facing Netanyahu, who has also been blamed for intelligence failures leading up to Hamas’s October 7 attack and for failing to secure the release of some 130 Israeli captives thought to still be inside Gaza. Five months into the war, Netanyahu is also struggling to keep a divided war cabinet on his side and to resist pressure from Western allies to rein in Israeli military operations.
Netanyahu should face jail time, says Israeli opposition leader
Yair Lapid says PM Netanyahu should be prosecuted and jailed for the 2021 crowd crush at Mount Meron, which resulted in the deaths of 45 Jewish pilgrims.
Earlier today, a government probe found Netanyahu’s office responsible for the incident. “The report published today shows that the disaster could have been prevented,” Lapid said in a post on X. “It indicates criminal negligence, arrogance and disconnection, it indicates complete irresponsibility. If Netanyahu were an ordinary citizen, he would stand trial today for causing death by negligence and go to prison.”
If Netanyahu stays in power, “the next disaster is only a matter of time”, Lapid added.
Israeli official blames aid agencies for slow aid delivery
Shimon Freedman, the spokesperson for COGAT, the Israeli unit tasked with administering security matters within Gaza, has denied that Israeli restrictions are blocking the flow of aid into Gaza. Instead, he claimed that Israel is inspecting and clearing so much aid that humanitarian groups can’t keep up.
“Israel is inspecting more aid than the international community can distribute,” Freedman claimed in an interview with Israel’s I24NEWS. “The real issue is for the organisations to increase their capacity so we can see more humanitarian aid making its way to the people of Gaza.”
International aid groups have for months warned that drawn-out Israeli inspections and restrictions on aid deliveries are making it impossible for them to get enough aid into Gaza, especially the northern part of the enclave where widespread famine has set in. Israel’s aid restrictions were especially suffocating in February, blocking all but 100 trucks from getting into the enclave each day, a 50 percent drop from January and well below the population’s needs, according to UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini.
Israeli forces also repeatedly opened fire on aid seekers in northern Gaza, killing at least 119 people in the most deadly attack on February 29.
WFP says attempt to resume northern Gaza food deliveries ‘largely unsuccessful’
The trucks were rerouted and later stopped by a large crowd of desperate people who grabbed the food, taking about 200 tonnes, the WFP said. Last month, the WFP said it was pausing deliveries of life-saving food aid to northern Gaza until conditions are in place that allow for safe distributions.
Israel seeks to depopulate northern Gaza, Palestinian foreign ministry says
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry says Israeli occupation is attempting to depopulate the northern Gaza Strip by intensifying its attacks and escalating famine.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates condemns in the strongest terms the war of genocide that Israel is carrying out against our people in the Gaza Strip for the 152nd day,” the ministry said in a statement.
“The ministry confirms that more than 500,000 people live in northern Gaza under the most horrific acts of genocide: constant bombardment, deepening famine, and creating strife and chaos.”
Aerial shots show scale of destruction in Shati camp
Aerial footage has captured the scale of the destruction in the Shati refugee camp, also known as “Beach Camp”, near Gaza City. Gutted buildings and piles of rubble appear to be all that is left of one of the world’s most densely populated areas after intense and prolonged Israeli bombing.
Shati is the third-largest refugee camp among the eight in the Gaza Strip and one of its most crowded. Before the war, more than 90,000 people lived in the area, which is less than half a square kilometre.
مشاهد جوية ترصد للمرة الأولى حجم الدمار بمخيم الشاطئ في مدينة غزة #حرب_غزة #فيديو pic.twitter.com/PEmyYaTocB
— الجزيرة فلسطين (@AJA_Palestine) March 6, 2024
Israeli army targets areas in Rafah, Khan Younis, central Gaza
Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting several casualties amid bombing and artillery shelling in the central and southern Gaza Strip.
- Israeli bombing on al-Qarara area north of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, killed two people and injured several.
- A child was killed by Israeli artillery shelling east of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.
- An air strike hit a residential apartment in the Nuseirat camp, in the central Gaza Strip, causing several casualties.
- A number of Palestinians were injured in the bombing of a house south of Deir el-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip.
- At least one person was killed and another injured after the Israeli army bombed Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis.
- Artillery shelling in the vicinity of al-Shoka School, east of Rafah, caused several injuries.
