At least 100 people were killed and hundreds more were wounded when Palestinians rushing toward trucks loaded with humanitarian aid encountered fire in Gaza City early Thursday, according to local media reports. The exact circumstances surrounding the deaths remain unclear; while several reports suggested Israeli troops fired on the crowd as they descended upon the trucks, the Israeli military suggested that most who died were trampled. Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra said at least 104 people were killed and around 760 were wounded, describing the incident as a "massacre." "Early this morning, during the entry of humanitarian aid trucks into the northern Gaza Strip , Gazan residents surrounded the trucks, and looted the supplies being delivered," Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement. Gaza City and the rest of northern Gaza were the first targets of Israel's air, sea and ground offensive launched in response to Hamas' Oct. 7 attack in which militants crossed the border from Gaza and massacred some 1,200 people.

Source: Fox News February 29, 2024 21:02 UTC