The distribution of food aid in Gaza today turned into a tragedy again, with the Hamas to state that 19 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire — a charge denied by the military.

Hamas’ health ministry initially said nine people were killed by “tank fire and Israeli occupation army shells” during a planned aid distribution at the ‘Kuwait’ roundabout on the outskirts of Gaza City, before the Palestinian Islamist movement’s press service announced a new tally with 19 dead and 23 injured.

The Israeli army denies that it opened fire on them Palestinians who were waiting for this distribution of aid.

“Reports that Israeli forces attacked dozens of Gazans near an aid convoy are false,” the army said in a statement.

According to “initial information”, “there was no air strike against the convoy, and no fire was fired by (Israeli) forces against the people near the aid convoy,” it said.

The army added that soldiers were escorting that aid convoy, which it said was stopped and then “looted by hundreds of its citizens Gaza“.

A spokesman for the Palestinian Civil Protection Agency in Gaza, Mahmoud Bashal, spoke of “fire on civilians”, adding that the wounded had been taken at Al-‘Ahli ‘Arab Hospital, also called Baptist hospital. The spokesman spoke of “very serious injuries, some from shrapnel.”

On March 14, the Hamas Health Ministry announced 20 dead and over 100 wounded by “Israeli fire” in similar circumstances at the same roundabout.

The next day, the Israeli military referred to the firing as “Palestinian gunmen”, and denied the accusations.

On February 29, an aid distribution turned into tragedy in western Gaza City, killing 120 according to Hamas, which accused the army of opening fire on the crowd.

The army said its soldiers “fired on some suspects who were approaching (the soldiers) and posing a threat”. He also said there was crowding and trampling by the crowd of Palestinians who attacked the aid trucks, resulting in “dozens of dead and injured” and that some were run over by the trucks.

According to the UN, the vast majority of the 2.4 million residents of the Gaza Strip are at risk of starvation. The situation is extremely serious for the 300,000 people who remain in the northern part of the enclave, where the delivery of aid is even more difficult.