Heavy Clashes, More Deadly Aid Chaos In War-ravaged Gaza

Gaza Strip, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th Mar, 2024) Heavy clashes and explosions shook Gaza, witnesses said on Saturday, as the Red Crescent reported several people killed during the latest chaotic aid distribution in the territory's north, where famine looms.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved a new round of talks on a Gaza truce between Israel and Hamas militants, after a binding UN Security Council resolution last Monday demanded an "immediate ceasefire".

A subsequent ruling by the world's top court ordered Israel to ensure aid reaches civilians, whose desperation was again laid bare Saturday.

The Palestine Red Crescent said five people were killed and dozens injured by gunfire and a stampede during an aid delivery in Gaza's north.

Eyewitnesses told AFP that Gazans overseeing the aid delivery shot in the air, but Israeli troops in the area also opened fire and some moving trucks hit people trying to get the food.

The Israeli military told AFP it "has no record of the incident described".

Fighting has not eased -- including around the territory's largest hospital -- and the latest toll from the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said at least 82 more people were killed in the previous 24 hours.

The Hamas press office reported more than 50 Israeli air strikes over the past day, with "civilian houses" targeted across the coastal territory, as well as tank fire in the Gaza City area and southern Gaza.

Israel's military on Saturday said it had struck dozens of targets, including militants and their compounds in central and northern Gaza.

The war began with Hamas's October 7 attack that resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory campaign against Hamas has killed at least 32,705 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry.

Netanyahu's office said new talks on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release will take place in Doha and Cairo "in the coming days... with guidelines for moving forward in the negotiations".