Atleast 21 Killed And Dozens Shot In Gaza Aid Incident
A “mass casualty influx” of people, many with gunshot or shrapnel wounds, was received at a Red Cross field hospital in southern Gaza, the organisation said, following disputed reports about an incident near an aid distribution centre in Rafah.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said 21 people were “declared dead upon arrival” while women and children were among 179 cases.
The organisation’s statement came after the Hamas-run civil defence agency in Gaza said at least 31 people were killed and many more wounded in the incident, which it blamed on “Israeli gunfire” targeting civilians.
But the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said findings from an initial inquiry showed its forces had not fired at people while they were near or within the aid centre.
The IDF also released drone footage it said showed armed and masked men throwing stones and shooting at civilians while they were collecting aid in the nearby city of Khan Younis.
Israel does not allow international news organisations, including the BBC, into Gaza, making verifying what is happening in the territory difficult.
The group that runs the aid distribution centre, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), also denied the claims of injuries and casualties at its site and said they had been spread by Hamas.
As of Sunday evening, the situation on the ground remained unclear.
In its statement, the ICRC said the “Red Cross Field Hospital in Rafah received a mass casualty influx of 179 cases, including women and children” early in the morning on Sunday.
It said “the majority suffered gunshot or shrapnel wounds”, and “twenty-one patients were declared dead upon arrival”. It is unclear if the number of people killed reported by the ICRC is separate to the Hamas health ministry’s reports.
“All patients said they had been trying to reach an aid distribution site,” the ICRC said.
The ICRC said it was the “highest number of weapon-wounded in a single incident since the establishment of the field hospital over a year ago”, and that it “far surpassed” the capacity of the 60-bed facility.
The IDF said in a statement: “In recent hours, false reports have been spread, including serious allegations against the IDF regarding fire toward Gazan residents in the area of the humanitarian aid distribution site in the Gaza Strip.
“Findings from an initial inquiry indicate that the IDF did not fire at civilians while they were near or within the humanitarian aid distribution site and that reports to this effect are false,” it added.
Another incident was said to have happened near a separate aid centre in the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza, with the Palestinian Red Crescent reporting 14 injured.
The BBC was contacted by doctors at the Nasser hospital who said they had received about 200 people with injuries caused by bullets or shrapnel.
Local journalists and activists shared footage of bodies and wounded people being transported on donkey carts to the Red Cross field hospital in the al-Mawasi area.
The BBC has examined footage of bodies being carried on carts and in the back of lorries to Nasser Hospital.
Gaza’s health ministry said more than 200 cases had arrived at hospitals, including 31 dead.
Seventy-nine of the injured were brought to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, according to the emergency department, medical staff from British charity Medical Aid for Palestinians reported.
Those killed and injured “were primarily struck by live gunfire, with many victims sustaining direct shots to the head or chest”, the charity’s staff said.
