On Friday, Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar stated that Israel’s attack on civilians queuing for food near aid trucks evokes the same feelings as the shelling of the Markale market in Sarajevo during the Bosnian war.
”Yesterday’s events in Gaza, where lives were lost waiting for essential humanitarian aid, evoke a similar sense of shock and sadness. How many more lives must be lost simply waiting for food,” Pirc Musar wrote on X.
The Markale market shelling was one of the bloodiest massacres committed by Bosnian Serb forces during the siege of Sarajevo from April 1992 to December 1995.
According to Natasa Pirc Musar, exactly the same situation is happening in Gaza, where over 100 Palestinians were killed while delivering humanitarian aid. UN human rights experts last week called on countries to halt arms exports to Israel, arguing that military supplies could violate international humanitarian law.
The Gaza-based Ministry of Health said that Israeli forces shelled Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid south of Gaza City near the al-Nabulsi Roundabout area on Thursday, killing at least 112 people and wounding 760.
“In the wake of the tragic events unfolding in Gaza, where more than 100 Palestinians lost their lives during the delivery of humanitarian aid, the world is witnessing a staggering death toll of more than 30,000. This appalling figure serves as a reminder of the grave…”
The Israeli military, for its part, said that initial investigations showed that Palestinians approached a military checkpoint controlling the entry of humanitarian aid trucks when soldiers fired warning shots, but the Palestinians continued to move towards the troops, causing the military to fire at the feet of the people.
After the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023, Israel launched a counter-offensive, resulting in massive destruction and shortages of basic necessities. At least 30,035 Palestinians have died and 70,457 have been injured, 85 percent of Gaza’s population has been displaced amid severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine, and 60 percent of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.
Israel has been charged with genocide at the UN International Court of Justice, and the interim judgement orders Tel Aviv to stop the genocide and take measures to guarantee humanitarian aid to Gaza’s civilian population.
“The world is witnessing a staggering death toll of more than 30,000. This appalling figure serves as a reminder of the grave responsibility of those who perpetrate these acts of violence. It is deeply distressing to see history repeating itself in its most horrific manifestations. As a young journalist who once witnessed the horrors of the Sarajevo market attack, the memories of those killed remain haunting.”
