On Thursday, Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir announced his support for the “heroic soldiers” who opened fire on a crowd of Palestinians who were waiting for humanitarian aid to arrive south of Gaza City, killing and wounding a large number of them, and described them as “heroes.”

Ben Gvir, the leader of the far-right "Jewish Power" party, called in a post on the "X" platform to stop bringing humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

He said: "Full support must be given to our heroic soldiers working in Gaza, who acted excellently against the 'Gazan mob' who tried to harm them," as he put it.

He added: "It has been proven today that transferring humanitarian aid to Gaza is not only madness while our kidnappers are being held in Gaza in substandard conditions, but it also exposes Israeli army soldiers to danger," he said.

Ben Gvir continued: “This is another clear reason why we should stop transferring this aid, which is in fact helping to harm Israeli army soldiers and give oxygen to Hamas.”

On Thursday, an Israeli military source acknowledged that the army opened fire on a crowd of Palestinians who were waiting for humanitarian aid to arrive on Al-Rashid Street, south of Gaza City, killing and wounding a large number of them.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that 104 Palestinians were killed and more than 760 others were injured as a result of Israel targeting Palestinians who were waiting for trucks carrying humanitarian aid to arrive south of Gaza City.

The Israeli source, who asked not to be named, stated, “The accident occurred near the humanitarian road that our forces are securing.”

He added, "As a result of the violent gathering, part of the crowd approached a military force that was concerned with allowing and transporting trucks as part of a humanitarian campaign to transport aid in a way that posed a danger to the forces, who responded with gunfire," and stated that "the incident is under investigation."

For its part, the Israeli army claimed, in a statement, that “during the entry of trucks loaded with humanitarian aid last night into the northern Gaza Strip, a crowd gathered around the trucks and violence broke out around them.”

He claimed that the Palestinians "intentionally looted the equipment that arrived, and during their gathering dozens of Gazans were injured as a result of the severe crowding and trampling," adding that "the details of the incident are being examined."