Israel-Gaza war: More than 100 reported killed in crowd near Gaza aid convoy, Hamas-run health ministry says
Israel-Gaza war: More than 100 reported killed in crowd near Gaza aid convoy
(about 5 hours later)
Videos posted on social media showed casualties loaded onto emptied aid lorries and a donkey cart
Watch: Devastation after dozens killed at Gaza aid drop
More than 110 Palestinians are reported to have been killed while trying to get desperately needed aid in north Gaza.
Watch: Devastation after dozens killed at Gaza aid drop
Crowds of waiting civilians descended on a convoy of lorries after it passed through an Israeli military checkpoint on the coastal road west of Gaza City.
At least 112 Palestinians are said to have been killed and 760 injured trying to get desperately needed aid in Gaza.
Israel's military said troops fired at some people they thought were a threat.
Crowds descended on a convoy of lorries on the coastal road south-west of Gaza City, in the presence of Israeli tanks.
In the ensuing chaos, the lorries attempted to move forward. A Palestinian witness told the BBC that most of those who died were run over.
Israel's military say tanks fired warning shots but did not strike the convoy. Some Palestinians say troops fired directly at them.
At least 112 people were killed and 760 others injured in the incident, the spokesman of Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, Ashraf al-Qudra, said in a statement on Thursday afternoon.
A Palestinian witness told the BBC most of those who died had been run over as lorry drivers tried to move forward.
Dramatic aerial footage released by the Israeli military showed thousands of people on and around the lorries, while graphic videos of the aftermath posted on social media showed some of the dead loaded onto emptied aid lorries and a donkey cart.
Israeli aerial footage shows hundreds of people on and around lorries, while graphic videos posted online show bodies loaded on to emptied aid lorries and a donkey cart.
Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry blamed Israel for what it called a "massacre", while US President Joe Biden expressed concern that it would complicate efforts by the US and other mediators to broker a temporary ceasefire in the war between Hamas and Israel.
Giving the figures of 112 dead and 760 injured, Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry accused Israel of a "massacre".
The incident happened hours before the health ministry announced that more than 30,000 people, including 21,000 children and women, had been confirmed killed in Gaza since the start of the conflict.
The UN Security Council has scheduled a closed-door emergency meeting to discuss the incident.
Some 7,000 others have been reported as missing and 70,450 have been treated for injuries over the past four months, according to the ministry.
France said "fire by Israeli soldiers against civilians trying to access food" was "unjustifiable" and US President Joe Biden expressed concern the incident would complicate efforts by mediators to broker a temporary ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas.
"This is deeply shocking because if you add the number of people who have been injured and the number of people who are missing you have more than 100,000 people, which represents 5% of the population," Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), told the BBC.
The medical charity MSF said it was "horrified" and called for an "immediate and sustained ceasefire".
The UN is also warning of a looming famine in the north of the territory, where an estimated 300,000 people are living with little food or clean water.
The incident came hours before Gaza's health ministry announced that more than 30,000 people, including 21,000 children and women, had been killed in Gaza since the start of the current conflict on 7 October. Some 7,000 were missing and 70,450 were injured, it said.
The Israeli military launched a large-scale air and ground campaign to destroy Hamas - which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the UK and others - after its gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel on 7 October and took 253 other people back to Gaza as hostages.
The UN is warning of a looming famine in the north of the territory, where an estimated 300,000 people are living with little food or clean water.
The Israeli military launched a large-scale air and ground campaign to destroy Hamas - which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the UK and others - after its gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 253 hostages.
More than 30,000 killed in Gaza, Hamas-run health ministry says
More than 30,000 killed in Gaza, Hamas-run health ministry says
Checking Israel's claim to have killed 10,000 Hamas fighters
Checking Israel's claim to have killed 10,000 Hamas fighters
Thursday's incident took place shortly after 04:00 (02:00 GMT), past an Israeli military checkpoint on Rashid Street, which runs along the Mediterranean coast. Palestinian sources gave the location as the Nabulsi roundabout, on the south-western edge of Gaza City.
Thursday's incident took place shortly after 04:45 (02:45 GMT) at the Nabulsi roundabout, on the south-western edge of Gaza City.
A convoy of between 18 and 30 aid lorries, likely to have been a few hundred metres long, passed through the checkpoint, heading north.
A convoy of 30 lorries carrying Egyptian aid was making its way north along what the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) described as a "humanitarian corridor" when it was surrounded by civilians, with people climbing on to the trucks.
Shortly afterwards, with the last lorry only about 70m (230ft) north of the checkpoint, Palestinians - many of whom had been camped out nearby, waiting for the arrival of aid - descended on the convoy.
The Israeli military released aerial video showing hundreds of Palestinians crowding round aid lorries
The Israeli military released aerial video showing hundreds of Palestinians crowding round aid lorries
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Lt Col Peter Lerner said some civilians approached the checkpoint and ignored warning shots fired by the soldiers there.
"Some began violently pushing and even trampling other Gazans to death, looting the humanitarian supplies," said the IDF's chief spokesman, Rear Adm Daniel Hagari. "The unfortunate incident resulted in dozens of Gazans killed and injured."
Fearing that some of the civilians posed a threat, the soldiers then opened fire on those approaching in what Lt Col Lerner described as a "limited response".
Israeli tanks, he said, "cautiously tried to disperse the mob with a few warning shots" but pulled back "when the hundreds became thousands and things got out of hand".
The BBC's Palestinian witness source did not confirm that civilians approached the checkpoint - only that they were about 70m (229ft) away.
"No IDF strike was conducted towards the aid convoy," he said, insisting the Israeli military had been trying to help the aid convoy reach its destination.
With crowds descending on all the lorries, and with machine-gun fire coming from the checkpoint, panic seems to have ensued.
Another IDF spokesman said some civilians had approached Israeli soldiers at a nearby checkpoint, ignoring warning shots. Fearing a threat, the soldiers fired at them in a "limited response", he said.
The lorries - some of them now with many people clinging on - tried to move forward.
A Palestinian witness, speaking to the BBC, described panic in the crowd and among the drivers, who tried to move forward. Most of those who died were run over, the witness added.
The Palestinian witness said the bulk of the casualties were caused by the lorries running people over, not by the Israeli gunfire.
Hamas rejected the IDF's account, citing "undeniable" evidence of "direct firing at citizens, including headshots aimed at immediate killing".
The spokesman of Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, Ashraf al-Qudra, said that dozens of casualties in a critical or severe condition were brought to the nearby al-Shifa Hospital, in Gaza City, and that medics there were unable to cope with the volume and severity of cases.
Dozens of casualties in a critical or severe condition were brought to the nearby al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, where medics were unable to cope with the sheer volume and severity of cases.
At the hospital, one man who was cradling the body of this dead friend, Tamer Shinbari, told the BBC he had gone to Nabulsi roundabout hoping to get a bag of flour for his family who are sheltering in schools in Jabalia.
One man at the hospital who was cradling the body of this dead friend, Tamer Shinbari, told the BBC he had gone to the Nabulsi roundabout hoping to get a bag of flour for his family. He said Israeli soldiers had opened fire "and the aid lorry ran over the bodies".
He said Israeli soldiers opened fire "and the aid lorry ran over the bodies".
All or most of the casualties being treated at two other hospitals, Kamal Adwan and al-Awda, were said by officials there to have bullet or shrapnel wounds.
The director of the Kamal Adwan hospital in the northern town of Beit Lahia, Hussam Abu Safieyah, told Reuters news agency that it had received the bodies of 10 people and dozens of wounded from western Gaza City.
The acting director of the al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia meanwhile told the Associated Press that it had received 161 wounded patients, most of whom appeared to have been shot.
Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia said it had received dead and wounded from western Gaza City
Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia said it had received dead and wounded from western Gaza City
The IDF said in a statement that "every civilian casualty is a tragedy".
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, a rival of Hamas based in the occupied West Bank, accused Israeli forces of a "heinous massacre".
"Despite the very difficult circumstances (brought about by Hamas' decision to go to war against Israel), we are continuing to work to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians across the Gaza Strip," it added.
A spokesman for UN Secretary General António Guterres said he condemned the incident and called again for an "immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages".
"We will learn from this difficult incident in order to try and find better solutions for the transfer of aid to those who need it."
The north of Gaza suffered widespread devastation after being the focus of the first phase of the Israeli ground offensive and has been largely cut off from humanitarian assistance for several months.
But Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is based in the occupied West Bank, blamed Israeli forces for what they called a "heinous massacre".
Last week, the World Food Programme said it had been forced to suspend aid deliveries to the area after its first convoy in three weeks had been surrounded by crowds of hungry people close to an Israeli checkpoint and had then faced gunfire in Gaza City.
"The killing of this large number of innocent civilian victims who risked their livelihood is considered an integral part of the genocidal war committed by the occupation government against our people," Mr Abbas said in a statement, adding that Israel bore "full responsibility".
On Tuesday, a senior UN aid official warned that at least 576,000 people across the Gaza Strip - one quarter of the population - faced catastrophic levels of food insecurity and one in six children under the age of two in the north were suffering from acute malnutrition and wasting.
A spokesman for UN Secretary General António Guterres said he "condemned" the incident.
Ten children died from dehydration and malnutrition at hospitals in northern Gaza in recent days, the health ministry said.
"The desperate civilians in Gaza need urgent help, including those in the besieged north where the United Nations has not been able to deliver aid in more than a week," Stephane Dujarric said, adding that Mr Guterres reiterated his call for "an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages".
The north of Gaza suffered widespread devastation after being the focus of the first phase of the Israeli ground offensive.
It has been largely cut off from humanitarian assistance for several months, despite some relief efforts by UN aid agencies.
Last week, the World Food Programme said it had been forced to suspend aid deliveries to northern Gaza after its first convoy in three weeks was surrounded by crowds of hungry people close to the Israeli military's Wadi Gaza checkpoint, and then faced gunfire in Gaza City.
Another convoy faced what it called "complete chaos and violence due to the collapse of civil order". Several lorries were looted in central Gaza and a driver was beaten.
On Tuesday, a senior UN aid official warned that at least 576,000 people across the Gaza Strip - one quarter of the population - faced catastrophic levels of food insecurity and were at risk of famine.
He also warned that one in six children under the age of two in the north were suffering from acute malnutrition and wasting.
On Wednesday, Gaza's health ministry said six children had died from dehydration and malnutrition at hospitals in northern Gaza. Two of the deaths were at al-Shifa and four at the Kamal Adwan, it added.
