IDF shooting near aid truck kills dozens in southern Gaza, Hamas-run ministry says
LONDON -- Almost 60 people are dead after two incidents near locations where people were trying to get food aid in Gaza Tuesday, the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health said.
Fifty-one people were killed in an incident near a food aid truck that got stuck near Khan Younis, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. The Israel Defense Forces acknowledged the shooting.
"A gathering was identified adjacent to an aid distribution truck that got stuck in the area of Khan Younis, and in proximity to IDF troops operating in the area," the IDF said in response to an inquiry from ABC News.
"The IDF is aware of reports regarding a number of injured individuals from IDF fire following the crowd's approach. The details of the incident are under review," the IDF added.
The shooting comes as many in Gaza are in the grip of hunger, according to international aid agencies. The United Nations last week said a "very limited" amount of food was being brought into the Strip.
And it comes a day after COGAT, the Israeli organization tasked with bringing aid into Gaza, said that four aid distribution centers in Gaza were being operated simultaneously for the first time.
Humanitarian aid sites and routes in Gaza have become flashpoints in recent weeks, according to the Hamas-run ministry.
Some of the injured and dead in Tuesday's incident were brought to Nasser Hospital Complex in Khan Younis after the incident. In a video published by Reuters, a man can be seen bleeding from a wound in his back while being wheeled into the entrance.
"We went to wait like other people to get food for our children," the man told Reuters "They told us there is flour in a certain area, so we went and waited. Then we found rockets falling on us."
In a separate incident, eight people were killed near an aid distribution site in southern Gaza, the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health said Tuesday. ABC News has asked IDF for comment on this incident.
