Hamas reports 19 dead during attack on aid distribution. Israel denies – Israel-Hamas War

A distribution of food aid in Gaza this Saturday again had a dramatic outcome with Hamas claiming that 19 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire, an accusation denied by the Army.

The Hamas Health Ministry initially announced the death of nine people due to “tank and shell fire from the Israeli occupation army” during an aid distribution from Kuwait and on the outskirts of Gaza city, before the press service of the Islamist movement Palestinian official issued a new toll of 19 dead and 23 injured.

The Israeli Army denied having fired on the Palestinians who were awaiting this distribution.

“The information stating that Israeli forces attacked dozens of people near a humanitarian aid ‘convoy’ is incorrect,” the Army said in a statement.

According to the “first data”, “there was no air attack against the ‘convoy’ nor were there shots from the forces [israelitas] about the people near the aid ‘train'”, he said.

The Army added that soldiers were accompanying this aid ‘convoy’, and that according to its version it was intercepted and then “looted by hundreds of Gazans”.

A civil defense spokesman in Gaza, Mahmud Basal, denounced “shooting against civilians”, adding that the injured were transported to al-Ahli Arab hospital, also known as Baptist hospital.

He referred to “very serious wounds, some from shell fragments”.

On the 14th, the Gaza Ministry of Health reported 20 dead and more than 100 injured by “Israeli fire” and in similar circumstances.

The following day, the Israeli Army referred to shooting by “armed Palestinians” and denied the accusations.

On February 29, an aid distribution ended in tragedy in western Gaza City, causing 120 deaths according to Hamas, which accused the Jewish Army of opening fire on the crowd.

According to the UN, the vast majority of the 2.4 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip are threatened by famine. The situation is particularly serious for the 300,000 people who remain in the north of the territory, where it is even more difficult to guarantee the delivery of humanitarian aid.

In parallel, it was reported that the Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, will travel to the United States on Sunday for the first time since the start of the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict, to discuss with North American officials the evolution of the conflict and negotiations for a new truce and humanitarian needs.

The Israeli Army began a widespread offensive on the Gaza Strip following attacks by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on October 7, 2023 against Israeli military, police and civilian targets near the Palestinian enclave.

Hamas’ unprecedented military operation caused around 1,200 deaths and more than two hundred hostages, according to Israeli authorities.

Since then, Israel has been carrying out an offensive in the Gaza Strip that has caused more than 32,000 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health controlled by Hamas.

The Israeli offensive has also destroyed most of Gaza’s infrastructure and close to two million people have been forced to leave their homes, almost all of the enclave’s 2.3 million inhabitants.

The population of the Gaza Strip is also facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis due to the collapse of hospitals, the outbreak of epidemics and shortages of drinking water, food, medicine and electricity.

Since October 7, 2023, more than 420 Palestinians have also been killed by the Israeli Army and by settler attacks in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, territories occupied by the Jewish State, in addition to nearly 7,000 arrests and more than 3,000 injuries. .