Israeli forces in Gaza fired on Palestinians seeking food aid in a chaotic scene, resulting in over 100 deaths, according to the Gazan Health Ministry on Friday, with European, Middle Eastern and U.N. leaders condemning Israel's actions, as the United Nations Security Council held a closed-door emergency meeting on the incident.
The Health Ministry in Gaza condemned the "massacre" in Gaza City, reporting 112 dead and over 750 wounded.
The Israeli military described the atrocity as a "stampede," with thousands of hungry Gazans encircling a convoy of 38 aid trucks resulting in numerous deaths and injuries.
But, an Israeli source confirmed that troops had fired on the crowd.
The incident adds to the Palestinian death toll from Israel's attacks, which has topped 30,000, mostly women and children, and dampened hopes that a truce deal between Israel and Hamas could be just days away.
A witness in Gaza City, declining to be named for safety reasons, said the violence began when thousands of people rushed toward aid trucks at the city's western Nabulsi roundabout, with Israeli soldiers firing at the crowd "as people came too close" to tanks.
Ali Awad Ashqir, who said he had gone to get food for his starving family, said that he had been waiting for two hours when trucks began to arrive.
"The moment they arrived, the occupation army fired artillery shells and guns," he said.
But Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari disputed this saying the military had fired what he called "a few warning shots" to try to disperse a crowd that "ambushed" the aid trucks. When the crowd got too big, he claimed, the convoy tried to retreat and "the unfortunate incident resulted in dozens of Gazans being killed and injured."
'Another day from hell'
U.S. President Joe Biden said Washington was checking "two competing versions" of the incident, while a State Department spokesperson said the U.S. had been in touch with Israel and was "pressing for answers" on what happened.
The incident would complicate efforts to broker a truce, Biden said, later admitting that any deal was unlikely to happen by Monday – the timeline that he had predicted earlier this week.
The U.S. president spoke with Qatari and Egyptian leaders in separate phone calls, the White House said, saying he discussed both the cease-fire and the "tragic and alarming" aid incident.
The United Nations Security Council held a closed-door emergency meeting on the incident.
The U.S. deputy ambassador to the U.N., Robert Wood, condemned the incident before entering the meeting, calling it a "tragic day."
Saudi Arabia strongly condemned the "targeting" of unarmed civilians, while Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) also issued condemnations.
Qatar warned that Israel's "disregard for Palestinian blood ... will pave the way for an expanding cycle of violence."
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his "strongest condemnation," while Spain's foreign minister described the events as "unacceptable."
European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell also denounced the "carnage."
The chief of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said that no U.N. agency had been involved in Thursday's aid delivery and called the incident "another day from hell."
Truce hopes
The flare-up of the Palestine-Israel conflict began on Oct. 7. Israel's indiscriminate attacks on besieged Gaza have killed 30,035 people, mostly women and children, with the Palestinian death toll rising each day. Hamas' invasion of southern Israel has resulted in the deaths of around 1,160 people Israel says. The Palestinian group also took about 250 hostages, 130 of whom remain in Gaza.
Israel's military says 242 soldiers have died in Gaza since ground operations began in late October.
Washington, a key ally of Israel, has been pushing for a reduction in civilian casualties and a cease-fire. It has been working with mediators Egypt and Qatar to seek a six-week pause in the war.
Negotiators had hoped a truce could begin by the time the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins, around March 10 or 11, depending on the lunar calendar.
The proposals reportedly involve the release of some Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians held captive in Israeli prisons.
Short of the complete Israeli withdrawal Hamas has called for, a source from the group said the deal might see troops leave "cities and populated areas," allowing the return of some displaced Palestinians and humanitarian relief.
Fears of famine
The World Food Programme has said Israel has blocked access to aid deliveries and warned that if nothing changes, "a famine is imminent in northern Gaza."
As fighting continued in Gaza, Muhammad Yassin, 35, struggled to find flour in Zeitun.
"We have not eaten a loaf of bread for two months," he said. "Our children are starving."
In the south, nearly 1.5 million people trying to flee the fighting are now packed into Rafah city, initially designated by Israel as a "safe area," also short of food, as Israel threatens to now send in troops, which the U.N. has said would be catastrophic for the 1.5 million Palestinians seeking shelter there.
Israel has faced an international chorus of condemnation of its invasion plan, as well as its main ally, the U.S., urging it to avoid a large-scale attack on the city that now hosts more than half of Gaza's population crammed into less than 20% of the territory, according to U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come under increasing pressure to bring the remaining hostages home. A group of 150 Israelis has started a four-day march from Reim, near the Gaza border, to west Jerusalem, calling for the government to reach a deal.
Israel's attacks and Israeli-settler violence have also surged in the occupied West Bank that has killed at least 324 Palestinians in the West Bank since Oct. 7, with over 3,400 others injured. Two Israelis were killed on Thursday.