At least 20 people were killed and more than 100 injured overnight when gunfire was fired at a crowd waiting at a food distribution site in the northern Gaza Strip.

Hamas announced that the Palestinian civilians were killed by Israeli fire.

But the Israeli military said today that “armed Palestinians” fired on crowds waiting for food aid to be distributed in Gaza City on Thursday night, rejecting Hamas’ accusations.

“About an hour before the arrival of the convoy”, which was responsible for the safe passage of the army, “armed Palestinians opened fire while civilians in Gaza were waiting for its arrival”, the Israeli army said in a statement.

When the trucks arrived, “armed Palestinians continued to fire while the crowd of Gazans began looting the trucks,” the army added. He also clarified that “a number of civilians” were “crushed by the trucks”.

There was “no artillery hit, no air strike or firing in the direction of civilians”, the army assured, after “reviewing its operational systems”.

“Hamas terrorists continue to attack civilians in Gaza who are looking for food, and Hamas accuses Israel of being responsible” for these attacks, the Israeli military said.

The carnage on February 29 that shocked the world

On February 29, at least 120 people were also killed in Gaza City during the distribution of humanitarian aid, according to Hamas’ health ministry, which also accused the Israeli army of opening fire at the time.

A preliminary investigation into the tragic incident conducted by the Israeli army concluded that Israeli soldiers “did not fire at the humanitarian convoy, but (…) at a number of suspects who approached them and posed a threat,” it had announced on March 8.

An eyewitness to the incident interviewed by AFP said that “thousands of people” “rushed to the trucks” and “Israeli soldiers (who were present) fired at the crowd because people got too close to the tanks.”