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Live updates: Israel-Hamas war, Gaza starvation crisis
Chaos and gunfire as Palestinians crowd aid trucks amid starvation crisis
Horn blaring, a truck swerves down a dusty road in northern Gaza at high speed, carrying a group of people clinging onto what appear to be white sacks of aid.
Moments later, one of the men is flung from the vehicle onto the ground — as another clings to the roof of the truck — shortly followed by the sound of gunfire.
The scene, captured in a social media video geolocated by CNN to the north-west of Gaza City, provides an insight into the chaotic state of aid distribution in the territory amid a deepening starvation crisis. CNN cannot confirm the exact nature of the incident nor the motives of the individuals approaching the vehicle.
In another video geolocated to the same area of northern Gaza, more gunfire rings out as a group of men surround and climb on top of the truck.
On Saturday, Al-Sharafi Brothers, a transport company in Gaza, issued a plea to Palestinians to avoid approaching aid trucks in “unsafe areas,” to protect their own safety and that of others.
It said that, due to instructions issued by Israel, aid truck drivers are unable to stop except in designated safe areas.
For context: The Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, created to replace the United Nations’ aid role in Gaza, has been criticized for failing to improve conditions as starvation spreads
Additionally, Israel has denied creating famine in Gaza and accused Hamas of “engineering” food shortages.
