A deadly incident occurred Thursday night in Gaza City’s Kuwait Square, where Palestinian gunmen opened fire on civilians waiting for humanitarian aid, according to the IDF. The IDF has concluded an initial investigation, stating that its troops did not open fire at any stage during the incident.

“As aid trucks were entering [the corridor], the Palestinian gunmen continued to shoot as the crowd of Gazans began looting the trucks,” the IDF said in a statement. The investigation found that at least 21 people were killed and over 150 were wounded, according to Hamas health officials.

The IDF emphasized that it did not carry out any tank shelling, airstrikes, or gunfire towards the Gazan crowd in the area of the aid convoy. “While the IDF continues its humanitarian effort to supply food and humanitarian aid to the civilians of the Gaza Strip, Hamas terrorists continue to harm Gazan civilians who are seeking food…and Hamas is blaming Israel for it,” the military said.

The IDF described the incident as a “smear campaign” aimed at spreading misinformation to incite violence. “On the first Friday of the month of Ramadan, a smear campaign was created with the aim of spreading baseless misinformation for the sake of instigating violence in other arenas,” the IDF added.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)