five people killed during new aid distribution in Gaza, Palestinian Red Crescent says

Several victims died from gunfire on Saturday morning, according to the NGO. Testimonies collected by AFP also report people being run over by trucks in a stampede.

New drama during a food aid distribution in Gaza City. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported five deaths and 30 injured on Saturday March 30, after shooting and a stampede, while thousands of people waited for the arrival of around fifteen trucks of flour and other food. Three of the dead died from gunshots, according to the rescue organization, which did not specify who the perpetrators of the shots were.

According to testimonies, members of “popular protection committees”, responsible for supervising the distribution, fired into the air, while, in the stampede and confusion, trucks ran over people. The testimonies also mention, at the same time, shootings “fed” Israeli tanks positioned a few hundred meters away, without specifying their destination. Contacted by AFP, the Israeli army responded not “no trace of the incident”.

More than 160 deaths linked to aid distributions

Videos filmed by AFP show trucks advancing in the dark, amid trash fires, at the Kuwait roundabout, the scene of previous incidents in recent weeks. We hear shots all around, screams and the horns of heavy goods vehicles trying to advance.

On Monday, six people died in stampedes trying to recover airdropped packages, and twelve others drowned after supplies fell into the sea, according to the Hamas-led government.

The previous weekend, the Gazan Ministry of Health reported 21 deaths during an aid distribution at the Kuwait roundabout, blaming “tank and shell fire from the Israeli army”. The army had denied having fired on Palestinians awaiting this distribution. Other tragedies also occurred on March 14, with 20 deaths at the same roundabout, according to the ministry, but also on February 29, with 120 deaths in the west of Gaza City, according to the same source.