Over 100 killed, 280 wounded while seeking aid in Gaza

At least 112 people were killed and over 280 wounded while trying to get desperately needed aid at a food distribution site on the coastal road south-west of Gaza City on Thursday.

Gaza health authorities said the incident happened as Israeli troops opened fire, triggering panic among civilians when they waited for aid delivery, but Israel blamed the deaths on crowds as civilians were gathering around food aid trucks, reported BBC and Reuters.

In the last few weeks, the number of civilian deaths has been the highest.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden said killings at Gaza aid site will complicate ceasefire talks.

Hamas said the incident could threaten Qatar talks aimed at securing a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages.

According to Palestinian health authorities, physicians in Gaza could not cope with the flood of serious injuries. The death toll in nearly five months of war crossed 30,000.

The Israeli military said private contractors operated the trucks as part of an aid operation.

One Israeli official said they witnessed two incidents.

First, dozens have been killed or injured as they tried to take aid from the trucks and were trampled.

Second, some people in the crowd approached troops who opened fire, killing an unknown number, he said.

Many people were trampled to death or injured in a battle while taking to get the raid from the trucks, said Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.

He said tanks, escorting the trucks, fired warning shots subsequently to disperse the crowd.

The incident came, hours before Gaza’s health ministry announced that over 30,000 people — 21,000 children and women — had been killed in Gaza since the start of the current conflict on October 7.

The ministry also said over 7,000 have been missing and 70,450 sustained injuries.