Extract from ABC News
Health authorities in Gaza have claimed Israeli troops opened fire on people waiting for aid near Gaza City, reportedly killing more than 100 Palestinians and wounding hundreds more.
Israel disputed the account and the death toll provided by health officials, saying aid trucks had been surrounded by hundreds of people and in the confusion many were trampled or run over.
A spokesperson for Israel's military said there was no knowledge of shelling that was initially reported at that location.
But the military later said dozens of people were hurt as a result of pushing and trampling when aid trucks arrived in northern Gaza.
An Israeli source told Reuters that troops opened fire at "several people" in the crowd who posed a threat to them.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's office said he "condemned the ugly massacre conducted by the Israeli occupation army this morning against the people who waited for the aid trucks at the Nabulsi roundabout".
Gaza Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra said the incident took place at al-Nabusi roundabout west of Gaza City in the northern part of the enclave.
Medical teams were unable to cope with the volume and severity of injuries from dozens of wounded people who arrived at al-Shifa hospital, Mr Qidra said.
The head of Kamal Adwan hospital in Gaza City, Hussam Abu Safieyah, said it had received 10 dead bodies and dozens of wounded patients from the incident west of the city.
"We don't know how many there are in other hospitals," Mr Safieyah told Reuters by phone.
Hamas warned in a statement that the incident could lead to the failure of talks aimed at a deal on a truce and hostage release.
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces said the incident involving its troops was "under review".
"Early this morning, during the entry of humanitarian aid trucks into the northern Gaza Strip, Gazan residents surrounded the trucks, and looted the supplies being delivered," the IDF said in a statement.
"During the incident, dozens of Gazans were injured as a result of pushing and trampling."
An Israeli government spokesperson described Palestinian casualties as a tragedy and said initial indications were that deaths were caused by delivery drivers ploughing into a surging crowd.
"At some point the trucks were overwhelmed and the people driving the trucks, which were Gazan civilian drivers, ploughed into the crowds of people, ultimately killing, my understanding is, tens of people," spokesperson Avi Hyman told reporters.
"It's obviously a tragedy but we're not sure of the specifics quite yet."
US President Joe Biden said the United States was checking the reports and he believed the deadly incident would complicate talks on a ceasefire.
"I know it will," Mr Biden told reporters as he left the White House for a trip.
He also said a temporary ceasefire probably would not happen by Monday, as he had earlier predicted, but he was hopeful.
The area has suffered widespread devastation and has been largely isolated during the conflict.
Trucks carrying food reached northern Gaza this week, the first major aid delivery to the area in a month, officials said Wednesday.
Aid groups said it has become nearly impossible to deliver humanitarian assistance in most of Gaza because of the difficulty of coordinating with the Israeli military, ongoing hostilities and the breakdown of public order, with crowds of desperate people overwhelming aid convoys.
The UN says a quarter of Gaza's 2.3 million Palestinians face starvation; around 80 per cent have fled their homes.
The UN's aid chief Martin Griffiths said he was appalled at the reported killings and injuries.
"Even after close to five months of brutal hostilities, Gaza still has the ability to shock us," Mr Griffiths said in a post on X.
"I'm appalled at the reported killing and injury of hundreds of people during a transfer of aid supplies west of Gaza City today."
Gaza death toll surpasses 30,000
Separately, the health ministry said the Palestinian death toll from the war has climbed to 30,035, with another 70,457 wounded.
It does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its figures but says women and children make up around two-thirds of those killed.
The health ministry maintains detailed records of casualties. Its counts from previous wars have largely matched those of the UN, independent experts and even Israel's tallies.
The Hamas attack into southern Israel that ignited the war killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and the militants seized around 250 hostages.
Hamas and other militants are still holding around 100 hostages and the remains of about 30 more, after releasing most of the other captives during a November cease-fire.
The increasing alarm over hunger across Gaza has fuelled international calls for another cease-fire, and the US, Egypt and Qatar are working to secure a deal between Israel and Hamas for a pause in fighting and the release of some of the hostages.
Mediators hope to reach an agreement before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan starts around March 10. But so far, Israel and Hamas have remained far apart in public on their demands.
One in six children under 2 in North Gaza suffer malnutrition, UN says
Meanwhile, UN officials have warned of further mass casualties if Israel follows through on vows to attack the southernmost city of Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's population of 2.3 million has taken refuge. They also say a Rafah offensive could decimate what remains of aid operations.
Several hundred thousand Palestinians are believed to remain in northern Gaza despite Israeli orders to evacuate the area in October, and many have been reduced to eating animal fodder to survive. The UN says one in 6 children under 2 in the north suffer from acute malnutrition and wasting.
COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of Palestinian civilian affairs, said around 50 aid trucks entered nothern Gaza this week. It was unclear who delivered the aid. Some countries have meanwhile resorted to airdrops in recent days.
The World Food Program said earlier this month that it was pausing deliveries to the north because of the growing chaos, after desperate Palestinians emptied a convoy while it was en route.
Since launching its assault on Gaza following Hamas' October 7 attack, Israel has barred entry of food, water, medicine and other supplies except for a trickle of aid entering the south from Egypt at the Rafah crossing and Israel's Kerem Shalom crossing. Despite international calls to allow in more aid, the number of supply trucks is far less than the 500 that came in daily before the war.
COGAT said Wednesday that Israel does not impose limits on the amount of aid entering. Israel has blamed UN agencies for the bottleneck, saying hundreds of trucks are waiting on the Palestinian side of Kerem Shalom for aid workers to collect them.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Wednesday countered by saying large trucks entering Gaza have to be unloaded and reloaded onto smaller ones, but there aren't enough of them and there's a lack of security to distribute aid in Gaza.
Police in Gaza stopped protecting convoys after Israeli strikes on them near the crossing.
AP/Reuters
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