The Palestinian Red Crescent reported five dead and 30 wounded this morning before dawn in Gaza City in a shooting and stampede during a new distribution of food aid that got out of hand, AFP reported, quoted by BTA.
Another tragedy occurred while thousands of people were waiting for the arrival of about fifteen trucks of flour and other food at a roundabout that has already seen incidents in recent weeks.
Videos taken by AFP show trucks advancing in the dark amid burning debris. All around, there are gunshots, screams and horns of heavy trucks trying to move. Members of the “People's Defense Committees”, overseeing the distribution, fired into the air as trucks ran over people in the stampede and confusion.
Three of the dead were shot, according to the Red Crescent. The injured were transported to a hospital in Gaza.
At the same time, witnesses mention a "strong" fire from Israeli tanks located a few hundred meters away, without specifying in which direction it was fired.
In an earlier incident on Monday, six people died in a stampede trying to retrieve airdropped packages, according to the government of the Islamist movement “Hamas”.
On March 23, the Health Ministry of “Hamas“ reported 21 killed and 23 wounded while distributing aid at the same roundabout, blaming the incident on "fire by the Israeli army from tanks and shells". The army has denied shooting Palestinians waiting for this food distribution.
Similar tragedies took place on March 14 (20 dead and more than a hundred injured at this roundabout according to the “Hamas“ ministry) and on February 29 in the western part of Gaza City (120 dead according to the same source).
Food aid is very difficult to reach the residents of Gaza, especially those who remain in the northern part of the strip, which number about 300,000 people.