Injured survivors of Gaza aid chaos say Israeli forces shot at them
Palestinians injured in a Gaza aid delivery disaster said on Friday that Israeli forces shot them as they rushed to get food for their families, describing a scene of terror and chaos.
Health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza said 115 people were killed in the incident on Thursday, attributing the deaths to Israeli fire and calling it a massacre.
Israel disputed those figures and said most victims were trampled or run over.
However, one Israeli official also said soldiers fired warning shots in the air and then fired at those who did not move away and were seen as a threat, adding when asked how many people were shot that this was «limited fire».
The incident underscored the collapse of orderly aid distribution in areas of Gaza occupied by Israeli forces with no administration in place and the main U.N. agency UNRWA hamstrung by an inquiry into alleged links with Hamas.
Four witnesses, who spoke at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City in a video obtained by Reuters, said they were fired upon by Israeli forces, some describing tanks and armed drones being involved.
Mahmoud Ahmad said he began waiting on Wednesday evening for the convoy that eventually arrived on Thursday morning, saying hunger forced him to take the risk of going to the delivery route in hopes of getting flour for his children.
As the aid trucks came into northern Gaza he went towards them but, he said, a tank and a «quadcopter» drone began to fire. «I was injured in my back. I was bleeding for
