Israeli forces deny firing into the crowd.
The Hamas-led Gaza government said Israeli artillery fire killed 19 people as they waited at an aid distribution point on Saturday, a charge Israel denies.
If confirmed, the death would be the latest in a series of Gaza civilians killed while seeking desperately needed relief supplies.
The Hamas government media office said 19 people were killed and 23 injured. “They were waiting for aid trucks at the Kuwait roundabout” when they came under “tank fire and artillery shells from Israeli occupying forces,” the health ministry said.
Israeli forces deny firing into the crowd.
“Reports that (Israeli forces) attacked dozens of Gazans in an aid convoy are incorrect,” a military statement said.
“Preliminary findings determined that there was no air attack on the convoy, and no incident of (Israeli) forces firing at persons inside the aid convoy.”
AFP footage showed bloodied Gazans arriving at the crowded compound of Al Ahli hospital, at least one of whom was transported in a donkey cart.
Gaza City resident Waal Mamluk called on Arab governments to intervene to prevent what he said were Israeli atrocities.
“Where are the Arabs? Where are the Arab nations? Enough of this injustice,” he said.
Latest aid distribution tragedy
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal said there had been a “serious shooting targeting civilians” and the victims had been taken to a nearby hospital.
“The injuries are very serious, some of them from shrapnel. The reality is tragic, difficult and challenging,” he said.
A United Nations-backed food assessment warned on Monday that half of Gazans are experiencing “catastrophic” hunger, with famine expected to emerge in the northern part of the region by May unless urgent intervention is taken.
The United Nations has been warning of a looming famine for weeks as aid agencies report huge difficulties entering Gaza, particularly in the north.
But aid distribution has become increasingly dangerous and sometimes deadly.
On March 15, the Gaza Ministry of Health stated that 20 people were killed and 155 injured due to a fire in the Kuwait roundabout awaiting assistance, but Israel denied this statement as “wrong.”
The Israeli military said “armed Palestinians” opened fire as Gazans waited for aid trucks to arrive, and then “continued shooting as Gazans began looting the trucks.”
On February 29, also in northern Gaza, the Health Ministry said more than 100 Gazans were killed when Israeli forces opened fire on people snatching food from a convoy.
The Israeli military said a preliminary investigation found that troops fired “precision fire” at suspects who approached them and posed a threat.
Just over a month ago, at the end of January, the Ministry of Health said that Israeli forces once again killed 20 people at a Kuwait roundabout while waiting for the distribution of humanitarian aid.
The Israeli military said at the time it was investigating the reported deaths.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
