Hamas accuses Israeli troops of killing 104 Palestinians and wounding 750 after opening fire on crowd waiting for aid in Gaza: IDF says troops shot at ‘several’ people who ‘posed a threat’

Hamas has accused Israeli troops of killing 104 Palestinians and wounding 750 more after opening fire on a crowd waiting for aid in Gaza. 

Israeli sources confirmed troops opened fire at ‘several people’ after feeling threatened by crowds near the aid point.

‘The crowd approached the forces in a manner that posed a threat to the troops, who responded to the threat with live fire,’ one Israeli source said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak on the incident. 

Witnesses claimed Israeli troops opened fire as people pulled flour and canned goods off trucks.

A spokesperson for the IDF said there was no knowledge of shelling at the location of the shooting in northern Gaza. The military later said dozens of people were hurt as a result of pushing and trampling when aid trucks arrived.

But a spokesperson for the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, Ashraf al-Qidra, said the incident took place at al-Nabusi roundabout west of Gaza City in the northern part of the enclave and claimed the lives of 104 Palestinians and injured more than 750.

Al Jazeera published videos which they claim show the aftermath of the alleged shooting. People appear to run away and take cover in one, while injured people are taken away in another. 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ 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’. 

Medical teams were unable to cope with the volume and severity of injuries from dozens of wounded people who arrived at al-Shifa hospital, 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,’ Safieyah said.

Kamel Abu Nahel, who was being treated for a gunshot wound at Shifa Hospital, said he and others went to the distribution point in the middle of the night because they heard there would be a delivery of food. ‘We’ve been eating animal feed for two months,’ he added.

He said Israeli troops opened fire on the crowd, causing it to scatter, with some people hiding under cars.

After the shooting stopped, they went back to the trucks and the soldiers opened fire again. He was shot in the leg and fell over and then a truck ran over his leg as it sped off, he said.

Medics arriving at the scene on Thursday found ‘dozens or hundreds’ lying on the ground, according to Fares Afana, the head of the ambulance service at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza.

He said there were not enough ambulances to collect all the dead and wounded and that some were being brought to hospitals in donkey carts.

Videos posted on social media showed trucks carrying many dead bodies. Reuters verified the location of one video to al-Nabulsi roundabout that showed several men who were motionless, as well as several wounded people.

Another video, which hasn’t been independently verified, showed bloodstained people being carried in a truck, medics treating people on a hospital floor, and bodies being wrapped in shrouds.

‘We don’t want aid like this. We don’t want aid and bullets together. There are many martyrs,’ one man was saying in a video.

Referring to the incident, an Israeli military spokesperson said: ‘There is no knowledge of Israeli shelling in the area.’

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.

‘The negotiations conducted by the movement’s leadership are not an open process at the expense of the blood of our people,’ it said, referring to Thursday’s deaths and saying Israel would be responsible for any failure of the talks.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas sent fighters into Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. 

Hamas-run health authorities in Gaza say 30,000 people have been confirmed killed in the enclave since then, with thousands of others believed buried under rubble.

Another 70,457 were wounded according to the tally, but 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 ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government in Gaza, maintains detailed records of casualties. Its counts from previous wars have largely matched those of the UN, independent experts and even Israel’s own tallies. 

Gaza 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 on Wednesday.

Aid groups say 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 and around 80 per cent have fled their homes.

The increasing alarm over hunger across Gaza has fuelled international calls for another ceasefire, 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.

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.