Gaza aid convoy deaths threaten cease-fire talks

​Palestinians carry bags of flour they grabbed from an aid truck near an Israeli checkpoint in Gaza City, February 19, 2024.
Palestinians carry bags of flour they grabbed from an aid truck near an Israeli checkpoint in Gaza City, February 19, 2024.
REUTERS/Kosay Al Nemer

The WHO on Friday warned that the health system in Gaza is "more than on its knees."

This came a day after over 100 people were killed in Gaza as a desperate crowd gathered for aid amid the escalating humanitarian crisis in the enclave. Gaza officials say that Israeli forces opened fire on the crowd, while the Israeli military blamed most of the deaths on a stampede and the general mayhem in the area.

The aid convoy deaths occurred the same day it was reported that the death toll from the war in Gaza surpassed 30,000. It also happened as concerns mount over the humanitarian situation in the territory, with children dying from hunger and hundreds of thousands of people reportedly on the brink of famine.

The incident is threatening to derail cease-fire talks. With global scrutiny of the Israel-Hamas war rising, the US — Israel’s top ally — is desperate to reach an agreement for a temporary pause to the fighting.

But when asked Thursday whether the deaths would complicate efforts to secure a truce, President Joe Bidensaid, “I know it will.” Just days earlier, Biden expressed optimism that a deal was imminent.

UN chief António Guterres on Thursday called for an independent inquiry into the aid convoy fatalities, which was echoed by France, Italy and Germany on Friday.

More from GZERO Media

Listen: Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, made his fortune-breaking industries—space, cars, social media—and is now trying to break the government… in the name of fixing it. But what happens when Silicon Valley’s ‘move fast and break things’ ethos collides with the machinery of federal bureaucracy? On the GZERO World Podcast, Ian Bremmer sits down with WIRED Global Editorial Director Katie Drummond to unpack the implications of Musk’s deepening role in the Trump administration and what’s really behind his push into politics.

France's President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a press conference following a summit for the "coalition of the willing" at the Elysee Palace in Paris on March 27, 2025.

LUDOVIC MARIN/Pool via REUTERS

At the third summit of the so-called “coalition of the willing” for Ukraine on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron proposed a multinational “reassurance force” to deter Russian aggression once a ceasefire is in place – and to engage if attacked.

A group demonstrators chant slogans together as they hold posters during the protest. The ongoing protests were sparked by the arrest of Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.
Sopa Images via Reuters

Last week’s arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu sparked the largest anti-government rallies in a decade and resulted in widespread arrests throughout Turkey. Nearly 1,900 people have been detained since the protests erupted eight days ago.

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), the then-nominee for US ambassador to the UN, during a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025.
Al Drago/Pool/Sipa USA

An internal GOP poll found a Republican candidate trailing in a special election for a conservative-leaning district in Florida, forcing US President Donald Trump to make a decision aimed at maintaining the Republican Party’s majority in the House.

South Sudan's Vice President Riek Machar, pictured here addressing the press in 2020.

REUTERS/Samir Bol

Alarm bells are ringing ever more loudly in South Sudan, as Vice President Riek Machar — chief rival to Prime Minister Salva Kiir — was arrested late Wednesday in an operation involving 20 armored vehicles at his compound in Juba. He was placed under house arrest, a move that is fueling fears that the country will soon descend into civil war.

Afghan Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, pictured here at the anniversary event of the departure of the Soviet Union from Afghanistan, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on April 28, 2022.

REUTERS/Ali Khara

The Trump administration has dropped multimillion-dollar bounties on senior Afghan officials from the Haqqani network, a militant faction that carried out some of the deadliest attacks on American troops but has now positioned itself as a moderate wing within the Taliban government. But why?

The Canadian flag flies on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

REUTERS/Blair Gable

Canada’s foreign interference watchdog is warning that China, India, and Russia plan on meddling in the country’s federal election. The contest, which launched last weekend, has already been marked by a handful of stories about past covert foreign interventions and threats of new ones.