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Over 100 people were killed and at least 700 injured in Gaza as Palestinian civilians descended upon trucks delivering humanitarian aid on Thursday (February 29).
The Israeli Defense Force said that many of the victims were trampled as large crowds of people rushed the trucks, desperate to get the food and supplies they were carrying. In addition, numerous people were injured or killed by the aid trucks as they tried to escape the area.
The IDF admitted that Israeli troops did open fire on the crowd but claimed that no more than ten civilians were killed by gunfire.
"This morning humanitarian aid trucks entered northern Gaza, residents surrounded the trucks and looted the supplies being delivered. As a result of the pushing, trampling, and being run over by the trucks, dozens of Gazans were killed and injured," the IDF said in a statement posted on X.
An IDF official defended the troops' decision to use lethal force, telling CNN that "the crowd approached the forces in a manner that posed a threat to the troops, who responded to the threat with live fire. The incident is under review."
However, Palestinian Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra called the incident a "massacre" as multiple nations were quick to condemn Israel's actions.
"Egypt considered the targeting of peaceful citizens rushing to collect their share of humanitarian aid as a shameful crime, a blatant violation of the provisions of international law and international humanitarian law, and a disregard for the value of the human being and the sanctity of his soul," Egypt's foreign ministry said on Facebook.