Deaths at aid delivery site: Shooting or stampede?
Israeli troops are accused of opening fire at a crowd during a scramble for food aid.
More than 100 people were killed during a scramble for food aid in Gaza on Thursday with the Palestinian health ministry accusing Israeli troops of firing on the crowd and Israel’s military blaming the deaths to a stampede.
Dozens were also injured, including some people being run over, when thousands of Gazans surrounded a convoy of 38 aid trucks.
An Israeli source said troops had opened fire on the crowd, believing it “posed a threat.”
A witness, declining to be named for safety reasons, said the violence began when thousands of people rushed towards aid trucks at the city’s Nabulsi roundabout, with soldiers firing at the crowd “as people came too close” to tanks.
Israeli army spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the military had fired “a few warning shots” to try to disperse a crowd that had “ambushed” the aid trucks.
When the crowd got too big, he said the convoy tried to retreat and “the unfortunate incident resulted in dozens of Gazans killed and injured.”
Ali Awad Ashqir, who said he had gone to get some food for his starving family, said he had been waiting for two hours when trucks began to arrive.
“The moment they arrived, the occupation army fired artillery shells and guns,” he told Agence France-Presse.
Hagari denied Israeli forces carried out any shelling or strikes at the time.
Looting of aid trucks has previously occurred in northern Gaza, where residents have taken to eating animal fodder and even leaves to stave off starvation.
The Gaza health ministry condemned the “massacre” in Gaza City, saying 112 people were killed and more than 750 wounded.
Countries and the United Nations issued statements condemning Israel and repeating demands for a ceasefire.
The European Union decried the carnage without blaming anyone.
Gazans are struggling for food, water and medical care throughout the territory including in far-south Rafah where around 1.4 million people have sought refuge from fighting elsewhere.
Israel is threatening to send in troops against Hamas fighters in Rafah.
The Gaza City aid incident would complicate efforts to broker a truce, United States President Joe Biden said.