Projectile event in Gaza, Palestine on Thu 14th March 2024

Gaza’s health ministry says at least 20 people were killed and 155 wounded by Israeli shelling as they waited for desperately needed food on Thursday, a claim that Israel vehemently denied, as Palestinians increasingly face deadly violence in their search for aid.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said a preliminary review found Israeli forces “did not open fire at the aid convoy in Kuwait Square,” instead claiming that “armed Palestinians opened fire while Gazan civilians were awaiting the arrival of the aid convoy.”

The death toll is expected to rise as casualties are still being transferred to the hospital, according to Mohammad Ghrab, a doctor at the emergency unit at Al Shifa Hospital. Earlier, a witness on the scene said dozens of people had been killed in the latest deadly episode at a food aid location in Gaza.

Graphic footage from the immediate aftermath of the scene filed by an eyewitness showed multiple bodies with traumatic injuries as well as pools of blood on a street strewn with rubble and dust.

A man identifying himself as Ibrahim Al-Najar, who went to Al Shifa hospital after the incident, said: “We were sitting there, and there was nothing. Suddenly, they bombarded us with shells. There are a lot of martyrs and injuries. We were there to bring food for our children.”

Ghrab, the doctor, said that about an hour after the event they had received more than 60 injured people. “Most of them are critical injuries, in the abdomen and the upper body. Until now, more than 15 injuries require urgent surgeries,” he said.

The health ministry said the incident was “a result of the Israeli occupation forces targeting a gathering of citizens waiting for humanitarian aid to satisfy their thirst at the Kuwaiti roundabout in Gaza.”

“Medical teams are unable to deal with the volume and type of injuries reaching hospitals in northern Gaza due to weak medical and human capabilities,” the ministry said.

The attack took place amid a backdrop of extreme hunger and poverty in the besieged enclave due to Israel’s severe restrictions on aid entering Gaza, where more than a half a million people are on the brink of famine, according to UN agencies.

The Kuwaiti Roundabout in Gaza City has become known as an area where aid trucks distribute food, attracting crowds of people desperate for supplies.

Israel denied being behind the attack on Friday, instead pointing blame at “armed Palestinians.”

In a statement, the IDF said: “A review of our operational systems and IDF forces on the ground found that no tank fire, air-strike or gunfire was carried out toward the Gazan civilians at the aid convoy.

“Approximately one hour before the arrival of the convoy to the humanitarian corridor, armed Palestinians opened fire while Gazan civilians were awaiting the arrival of the aid convoy,” the statement said. “As aid trucks were entering, the Palestinian gunmen continued to shoot as the crowd of Gazans began looting the trucks. Additionally, a number of Gazan civilians were run over by the trucks.”

The IDF claimed that “Hamas terrorists continue to harm Gazan civilians who are seeking food – and Hamas is blaming Israel for it.”

Gaza Civil Defense Spokesman Mahmoud Basal accused Israel of being behind the attack in a statement late Thursday.

“The Israeli occupation forces are still practicing the policy of killing innocent citizens waiting for relief aid as a result of the famine occurring in the northern Gaza Strip,” Basal said in a statement.

Israel has for months limited the flow of aid into Gaza, however, some trucks have been allowed into the northern part of the strip where hunger is most acute. Amid a collapse of public authority in Gaza, the arrival of aid trucks has sparked chaos and disorder that often leaves thousands at risk of harm during the distribution.