Gaza Strip, March 15: At least 20 people were killed and 155 injured in shelling on Thursday while they were awaiting food aid in Gaza, CNN reported citing the health ministry in the Palestinian enclave.

Mohammad Ghrab, a doctor at the emergency unit at Al Shifa Hospital, said the death toll is expected to rise as casualties are still being shifted to the hospital, the report stated. Israel-Hamas War: US To Build ‘Temporary Port’ in Gaza for Humanitarian Aid, Joe Biden To Make Announcement During State of the Union Address.

Earlier, a witness on the spot said dozens of people died, with videos purportedly showing tens of bodies lying at the scene, according to a CNN report. Israel-Hamas Conflict: Palestinian Death Toll in Gaza Soars Past 25,000 With No End to War in Sight.

The Palestinian health ministry described the incident as "a result of the Israeli occupation forces targeting a gathering of citizens waiting for humanitarian aid to satisfy their thirst at the Kuwaiti roundabout in Gaza."

According to eyewitnesses, the area was struck by what sounded like artillery fire or a tank.

In a statement on Thursday, Gaza Civil Defense Spokesman Mahmoud Basal accused Israel of being responsible for the attack, CNN reported.

"The Israeli occupation forces are still practising the policy of killing innocent citizens waiting for relief aid as a result of the famine occurring in the northern Gaza Strip," CNN quoted Mahmoud Basal as saying.

Meanwhile, Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) announced that humanitarian aid will for the first time enter Gaza by sea.

"Humanitarian aid entering Gaza from land, air and sea: For the first time, humanitarian aid to arrive to Gaza by sea. A ship carrying humanitarian aid from @WCKitchen and funded by UAE set sail on Tue. from the Larnaca port in Cyprus toward Gaza," the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) stated in a post on X.

Amid the ongoing war with Israel, Muhammad Abu Hasna, a commander in Hamas' Operations Unit, was precisely targeted and eliminated in the area of Rafah, the IDF informed on Thursday.

Taking to X, IDF posted, "Hadi Ali Mustafa, a Hamas terrorist in Lebanon responsible for advancing Hamas' international activity and terrorist attacks against Jewish and Israeli targets. The IDF will continue to operate against Hamas in every area in which it operates."

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