CNN presses IDF spokesperson on firing at civilians seeking aid

Joining us now from Tel Aviv himself, the IDF spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner. Colonel, thank you so much for joining us. I want your perspective. How did this incident happen? It's an awful incident as the entire world is now seeing. Why did IDF forces, first of all, opened fire on hungry Palestinian civilians simply in desperate need of food Wolf, we have to understand, first of all, that the reality is quite different. The IDF coordinated access for humanitarian goods that are in d

ire need in the northern Gaza Strip. This is precisely the convoy that went in over 30 trucks. And indeed, this is the activities that we've been conducting over the last week or so in order to get more goods into the northern Gaza Strip for the needs of the people up there in in northern Gaza in the early hours of this morning. We understand that the convoy passed through the Israeli positions and continue to move forward and continue to move north as they move forward. A amount of people and h

uge amounts of people, as we clearly shared in the visuals that we distributed, stormed and stampeded the truckloads as they climbed upon. They were pushing, they were shoving, people were trampled and also run over. As Jeremy Diamond rightly pointed out, and this is the the reality of the mass casualty event that transpired afterwards in a separate event at a different location, further further south out away from the convoy. Indeed, as Jeremy rightly pointed out, people approach the forces tha

t, first of all, fired warning shots in the air. And we have to keep in mind, this is a combat zone and our forces are confronted with explosive devices that Hamas terrorists have attached to the tanks, RPGs, weapons all different types of attacks. So when people that are perceived as a threat continue to move forward towards the forces, despite the warning shots, the threat is still perceived. And indeed, there's a handful of people that have been killed in this incident or wounded that we're n

ot entirely certain of the figure. But it's a tragedy that is developing. We are operating in order to maintain operational activity and conduct our combat on one hand and maintain the ongoing flow of humanitarian goods, humanitarian supplies on the other. Let me interrupt you for a moment, Colonel, because as you heard eyewitnesses on the scene, they strongly dispute the IDF, the Israel Defense Forces account the account you're presenting right now, they say the Israeli military opened fire fir

st on people near the trucks, causing them to panic. And the truck drivers to simply drive away. What evidence, if any, do you have, Colonel, to support the IDF account? We distributed extensive video footage sharing the process and the movements of the trucks as they were moving forward, as they continue to go as they plowed through some of the people. Nothing to do with our forces at this time. Of course, I will say we're continuing to investigate, continuing to inquire in or after actions act

ivities. This is continuing. We're continuing to look into it. But this is the facts. This is what we know at this time because the drone video that you released and we've been showing it to our viewers here in the United States and indeed around the world doesn't show trucks driving into the crowds. It also doesn't show Israeli forces opened opening fire. Do you have other video, Colonel, of those incidents? And if you do, will you release that video? So I've been following CNN quite extensivel

y, unfortunately, only showing a small fraction of the video footage that we've that we've shared. You know, there are a couple of minutes there and you see the trucks moving and the people swarming, the truckloads stampeding trying to take the goods and loot the goods off of the trucks that the humanitarian assistance, it's international assistance that was being supplied in the northern areas of the Gaza Strip precisely for the for the requirements and the needs of the people. Unfortunately, t

his is a situation that we are facing and we are understanding that there is a dire situation. The humanitarian aid needs to arrive in its place. And, you know, the reality is, as we put forward, that we will continue to coordinate and facilitate the access of humanitarian goods. Those trucks that we're bringing in, this desperately needed food. Colonel, where were they from where these U.N. trucks what kind of trucks who were providing this this food for the folks in Gaza The understanding in t

he information that I have at hand is that was international aid by governments that were supplied with it came on in the private truckloads to move north. I've also received in the last few minutes one report that actually gunmen within within the northern Gaza Strip opened fire and killed one of the drivers, actually. So we're still investigating. There's still more information coming in. We'll keep you posted and we'll make announcements. According to the U.N. says more than half a million pe

ople in Gaza right now, and I'm quoting now from this U.N. statement, these people are, quote, One step away from famine. Half a million people. Critics have accused Israel as you know, of using hunger as a weapon of war. Colonel, how do you respond to that charge? We need to do everything in order to alleviate the humanitarian situation. The IDF is coordinating with the international players, with governments. There are access points from Rafah and from Kerem Shalom, where hundreds of truckload

s of supplies are coming in every single day. They need to be distributed. They need to reach the people that are in dire need. And I would add, we're also coordinating airdrops from the sky, whether it's from different governments. And I also heard that this morning. I saw that there was the US and Canada are also considering that. I'm sure that we can facilitate more access. There is no limit on the amount of humanitarian aid and supplies that can get into Gaza. We are facilitating that and co

ordinating that. We have been almost for five months. We need to get the aid to the people that actually need it. This really horrible incident today comes as the Palestinian Health Ministry now says more than 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza, the majority of whom are women and children. So here's the question Why is Israel not doing more to limit these casualties? So let's correct ourselves just one second there. It's the Hamas Ministry of Health. I wouldn't trust the ISIS Ministry of Hea

lth. I wouldn't trust the al Qaeda minister of health. I don't trust the Hamas Ministry of Health in this war. We have killed up to now over 12,000 terrorists, Hamas terrorists, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, terrorists in combat or in precision strikes. Indeed, it is a deep tragedy that civilians are caught up in this war. It's a war. Israel never asked for. It was a war. Israel was surprised from on the 7th of October when Hamas decided to launch a war against Israel, attacking, killing, murdering

, massacring, and abducting 240 Israelis and foreign nationals into Gaza. There are still 134 Israelis being held by Hamas. This war can end today. Hamas can let them go and unconditionally surrender. There will be no more need for war. But there is one very, very clear thing that everybody agrees upon Hamas have to go. The paradigm has to change for the safety and security for all decent people in this region. You probably saw the report. CNN investigated incident back in early January, Colonel

, in which the IDF said they were attacking militants in central Gaza. But experts tell CNN, tell us you used a £2,000 bomb and that half of the Abu-Jaber family was killed by the shock wave alone. The family says they were never warmed. Why did the idea feel it was appropriate to use this level of military force So as we rightly said in our response to the inquiries of CNN, the IDF conducted a strike against an enemy target. There was a lot in watching the report. There was a lot of supposition

and not fact based analysis, which is unfortunate. I would say Hamas have weaponized the civilian arena to an extent where they have no regard for civilian lives, Israelis or Palestinian. And so when we are going after Hamas, after Hamas leadership, when they're hiding in the civilian arena, they're all civilian consequences. But we need to do everything we can to evacuate people from harm's way. We've called on evacuation areas. We've directed people out of harm's way. We have indeed. And thro

ughout the course of this war, CNN has covered extensively that the vast tunnel network I remember, Wolf, in 2014 when you had access to the tunnels. This is an industry of terror and hate. It has to go. It has to end. The people, Israelis and Palestinians, are paying a two dearer price because of this failed leadership of Hamas. Is Israel is Israel going to continue to use those £2,000 bombs Israel uses the munitions that are both precision and guided, but also based on the needs of the militar

y necessity that is primary in our in all of our activities. We base base our munitions without specifying what munitions we use specifically based on the military necessity and the goal we are trying to achieve in this specific strike. So, of course, we will utilize the tools in order to within the realm of laws of armed conflict based on distinction, based on precaution, but also based on military necessity Wolf. Colonel Peter Lerner of the IDF thank you so much for joining us.