At least 20 dead and over 150 wounded in strike as Gazans waited for food aid

At least 20 people were killed and 155 wounded by Israeli shelling as they waited for aid in Gaza on Thursday, the Hamas-run health ministry has said.

Israel’s military has denied being behind the attack and said it was assessing the incident.

The death toll is expected to rise as casualties are still being transferred to the hospital, according to Mohammad Ghrab, a doctor at the emergency unit at Al Shifa Hospital.

A witness on the scene said dozens of people had died.

Graphic footage from the immediate aftermath of the scene filed by an eyewitness showed multiple people with traumatic injuries as well as pools of blood on a street strewn with rubble and dust.

The health ministry said the incident was “a result of the Israeli occupation forces targeting a gathering of citizens waiting for humanitarian aid to satisfy their thirst at the Kuwaiti roundabout in Gaza.”

“Medical teams are unable to deal with the volume and type of injuries reaching hospitals in northern Gaza due to weak medical and human capabilities,” the ministry said.

The attack took place amid a backdrop of extreme hunger and poverty in the besieged enclave due to Israel’s severe restrictions on aid entering Gaza, where more than a half a million people are on the brink of famine, according to UN agencies.

The Kuwaiti Roundabout in Gaza City has become known as an area where aid trucks distribute food, attracting crowds of people desperate for supplies.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) denied it was responsible for the attack, in a short statement to CNN on Friday.

“The reports that the IDF attacked dozens of Gazans at an aid distribution point are false,” the statement said.

The Israeli military said it was assessing “the incident with the thoroughness that it deserves.”

Eyewitnesses said the area was struck by what they said sounded like tank or artillery fire.

Gaza Civil Defense Spokesman Mahmoud Basal accused Israel of being behind the attack in a statement late on Thursday.

“The Israeli occupation forces are still practicing the policy of killing innocent citizens waiting for relief aid as a result of the famine occurring in the northern Gaza Strip,” Basal said in a statement.

Israel has for months limited the flow of aid into Gaza, however, some trucks have been allowed into the northern part of the strip where hunger is most acute.

Amid a collapse of public authority in Gaza, the arrival of aid trucks has sparked chaos and disorder that often leaves thousands at risk of harm during the distribution.

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