KUALA LUMPUR – More than 100 people were killed and over 750 injured while waiting for food aid when the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) opened fire on crowds surrounding aid trucks in western Gaza City, international media have reported.
The IDF fired at people because the crowd was approaching in a manner that “posed a threat”, CNN quoted an Israeli official as saying.
The Gaza Ministry of Health issued a statement confirming the killings, while the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called it a “massacre”.
The killings took place Thursday morning on a street where the arrival of food aid trucks carrying wheat was expected.
Both Al-Jazeera and CNN report that the IDF opened fire as starving Gazans clamoured for the aid.
According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, the death toll and number of injured is expected to rise as ambulances struggle to access the area.
The latest death toll in the coastal enclave is just past 30,000 people since October 7, when Israel began retaliating for cross border attacks by Hamas. – February 29, 2024