Flour Massacre

The Flour Massacre (Arabic: مجزرة الطحين, romanized: majzarat aṭ-ṭaḥīn) occurred in the Gaza Strip on 29 February 2024, when at least 118 Palestinians were killed and 760 injured after Israeli forces opened fire while the Palestinians were seeking food from aid trucks on the coastal al-Rashid Street in Gaza City.

The name Flour Massacre arises from the fact that many victims were found soaked in both flour and blood, symbolizing the humanitarian crisis and the deadly consequences of seeking basic sustenance in a conflict zone. The incident was the deadliest mass casualty event to have taken place in the Gaza Strip since the start of Israel's invasion, and took place a day after the World Food Programme (WFP) reported that more than half a million Palestinians were at risk of famine in Gaza.

An aid convoy entered the northern Gaza Strip on the morning of the incident, with the trucks provided by Palestinian businessmen, and security and organization by Israel. Israel says that its forces felt endangered from the crowds of Palestinians, firing warning shots in the air and then opened fire killing less than ten people, and that the rest were killed in an ensuing stampede. Survivors described the massacre as an ambush, stating that Israeli forces deliberately opened fire as Palestinians approached the aid trucks, resulting in a rush away from the gunfire that added to the death toll.

A CNN investigation reported that Israel's claims that the incident had begun after 4:30 a.m. local time cast doubt on its version of events, as it had collected and analyzed footage from survivors, including one video showing that gunfire started seven minutes prior. It also reported that the Israeli military's publicized drone footage misses the moment capturing what caused the crowds to disperse, and that Israel had rejected its requests for the full unedited footage.

Officials from three hospitals respectively reported treating over 100, 142, and "dozens" of people with gunshot wounds, with a "large number of gunshot wounds" confirmed at al-Shifa Hospital by the United Nations (UN). The Gaza Health Ministry (GHM) dubbed the incident a massacre where 118 people were killed. Tareq Abu Azzoum, a correspondent for Al Jazeera, suggested the attack was part of a broader pattern of Israeli attacks on people seeking humanitarian aid.