At least 77 killed in strikes on hungry Palestinians, says the Palestinian health ministry

Israeli tanks and artillery killed at least 77 Palestinians and wounded hundreds looking for food aid in Gaza City’s al-Rasheed Street on Thursday, the Palestinian health ministry said.

Residents of Gaza City had gathered to look for food, with the area completely cut off from aid by Israeli forces, leading to fears of famine and reports of people, including babies, dying of hunger.

Fares Afana, head of the ambulance service at Gaza's Kamal Adwan Hospital, said medics found “dozens or hundreds” of bodies lying on the ground once they reached the scene. He said some wounded had to be carried to hospitals on donkey carts as there were not enough ambulances to take all the dead and wounded.

The Israeli army said it was "looking into" the incident.

Hospitals in northern Gaza, most of which are out of commission due to recurring Israeli attacks, are reportedly unable to deal with the large influx of patients.

“What we are witnessing today reminds us of the Baptist Hospital massacre,” Jadallah al-Shafee, head of the nursing department at the al-Shifa Hospital, told Al Jazeera.

“We have 3 small operating rooms operating with limited capacity to treat hundreds of wounded people.”

Reacting to the attack, Oxfam said they were “appalled” by the reports.

“Israel deliberately targeting civilians after starving them is a gross violation of international humanitarian laws and our humanity,” the organisation said.

“The risk of genocide is real.”