Chaotic Gaza Aid Delivery Turns Deadly After Gunfire, Stampede

By VOA News March 30, 2024

At least five people were killed and dozens more injured Saturday during a chaotic humanitarian aid delivery in the Gaza Strip as thousands of civilians rushed for food from trucks before dawn.

Witnesses told Agence France-Presse that Palestinians overseeing the aid delivery of some 15 trucks of flour and other food shot into the air to quell the thousands of people swarming the aid convoy in Gaza City's Kuwait roundabout.

Israeli troops in the area also opened fire, and some trucks hit pedestrians, according to the Palestine Red Crescent.

The Red Crescent said three of the five killed had been shot.

AFP video shows a convoy of trucks moving quickly past burning debris near the distribution point as people shouted and gunfire echoed — some of which were warning shots, witnesses said.

The roundabout has been the scene of several chaotic and deadly aid distribution incidents, including one on March 23 in which the Hamas-run government said 21 people were killed by Israeli gunfire — a charge Israel denied.

AFP contacted the Israeli military for comment.

A U.N.-backed report warned on March 19 that half of Palestinians in Gaza are experiencing "catastrophic" hunger, with famine projected to hit the north of the territory unless there is urgent intervention.

The report estimated that 1.1 million people — nearly half the population, according to United Nations data — were facing catastrophic conditions.

The situation is particularly dire in the north of Gaza, where the United Nations says there are about 300,000 people — and where the report said famine was "imminent ... projected to occur anytime between mid-March and May."