The Palestine Red Crescent has said five people were killed and dozens wounded by gunfire and a stampede during an aid delivery in Gaza, where famine is looming.
AFP video footage shows a convoy of trucks moving quickly past burning debris near the distribution point in pre-dawn darkness as people shout and gunfire echoes - some of which was warning shots, witnesses said.
The Red Crescent said it happened after thousands of people gathered for the arrival of around 15 trucks of flour and other food, which was supposed to be handed out at Gaza City's Kuwait roundabout, in the territory's north.
The roundabout has been the scene of several chaotic and deadly aid distribution incidents, including one on 23 March in which the Hamas-run government said 21 people were killed by Israeli fire - a charge Israel denied.
The Red Crescent said three of the five killed earlier today had been shot.
Eyewitnesses said that Gazans overseeing the aid delivery shot in the air, but Israeli troops in the area also opened fire and some moving trucks hit people trying to get the food.
AFP contacted the Israeli military for comment.
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A UN-backed report warned on 19 March that half of Gazans are experiencing "catastrophic" hunger, with famine projected to hit the north of the territory unless there is urgent intervention.
The report estimated that 1.1 million people - half the population, according to UN data - were facing catastrophic conditions.
The situation is particularly dire in the north of Gaza, where the United Nations says there are about 300,000 people - and where the report said famine was "imminent...projected to occur anytime between mid-March and May".
Four peacekeepers hurt in Lebanon shell explosion, says UN
Meanwhile, the United Nations said four of its military observers were wounded today when a shell exploded near them in southern Lebanon, where Israel and the Hezbollah movement trade regular cross-border fire.
The United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO) did not identify the source of the shelling but Lebanon's official National News Agency blamed Israel.
"This morning four UNTSO military observers on a foot patrol along the Blue Line [demarcating the border with Israel] were injured when a shell exploded near their location," UNTSO said.
"The targeting of peacekeepers is unacceptable," it said in a statement, adding that the peacekeepers were taken to hospital for treatment and an investigation launched into the origin of the explosion.
"All actors have a responsibility under international humanitarian law to avoid targeting non-combatants, including peacekeepers, journalists, medical personnel, and civilians.
"We repeat our call for all actors to cease the current heavy exchanges of fire before more people are unnecessarily hurt," UNTSO said.
The Defence Forces said no Irish personnel were injured in the incident.
Israel has exchanged near-daily cross-border fire with Iran-backed Hezbollah since the war with Hamas in Gaza began on 7 October when Hamas attacked Israel.
Hezbollah, which has a powerful arsenal of rockets and missiles, says its attacks on Israel are in support of Hamas.
New round of Israel-Hamas talks in 'coming days'
Meanwhile, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved a new round of talks on a Gaza truce between Israel and Hamas militants, after a binding UN Security Council resolution last Monday demanded an "immediate ceasefire".
A subsequent ruling by the world's top court ordered Israel to ensure aid reaches desperate civilians.
Fighting has not eased - including around the territory's largest hospital - and the latest toll from the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said at least 82 more people were killed in the previous 24 hours.
The Hamas press office reported more than 50 Israeli air strikes over the past day, with "civilian houses" targeted across the coastal territory, as well as tank fire in the Gaza City area and southern Gaza.
Israel's military today said it had struck dozens of targets, including militants and their compounds in central and northern Gaza.
Video released by the Palestinian Civil Defence agency yesterday showed a vehicle splayed open after a strike on a street in Gaza City.
Men carried two wrapped bodies to an ambulance, while others recovered items from the exposed interior of the vehicle and put them into a bag.
The war began with Hamas's 7 October attack that resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel's retaliatory campaign against Hamas has killed at least 32,705 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry.
Mr Netanyahu's office said new talks on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release will take place in Doha and Cairo "in the coming days... with guidelines for moving forward in the negotiations".
Famine 'setting in'
Talks had appeared deadlocked despite a major push by the United States - which provides billions of dollars in military aid to Israel - and fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar to secure a truce for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, now more than halfway through.
In its ruling, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague said it had accepted South Africa's argument that the further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Gaza required Israel to do more, with famine now "setting in."
A UN-backed report has projected famine by May unless urgent intervention occurs.
The report released on 19 March warned that half of Gazans are feeling "catastrophic" hunger.
The Israeli defence ministry body responsible for Palestinian civil affairs (COGAT) alleged the assessment contained inaccuracies and questionable sources.
Israel's allies, and the UN, have blamed Israel for limitations on the aid flow but COGAT accused United Nations agencies of being unable to handle the quantity of assistance arriving daily.
With limited ground access, several nations have begun aid airdrops, and a ship was expected to depart from Cyprus with the second cargo of food assistance on a new sea corridor to Gaza.
The ICJ had ruled in January that Israel must facilitate "urgently needed" humanitarian aid to Gaza. The court's rulings are binding but it has little means of enforcement.
'A deep sadness'
Today Israel's military said it was continuing operations around Gaza's largest hospital Al-Shifa for a 13th day.
Most of the Palestinian territory's hospitals are not functioning and its health system is "barely surviving," OCHA said.
Israel's military accuses Hamas and the Islamic Jihad militant group of hiding inside medical facilities, using patients, staff and displaced people for cover - charges the militants have denied.
Troops first raided Al-Shifa in November, but the army says Palestinian militants have since returned.
The army said it "continued to eliminate" militants and locate weapons in the area, adding to a toll of around 200 it earlier reported killed in the Al-Shifa operation.
Hamas said that in addition to the ongoing Al-Shifa operation, Israeli troops continued "aggression" against Nasser Hospital and "besiege" Al-Amal Hospital in the same city.
The army said troops continue to operate in the Al-Amal area of Khan Yunis.
Gaza's Christian minority are marking Easter weekend, but in Jerusalem fewer pilgrims were visible.
"There is a deep sadness you can feel in the air, which is probably heightened by what is happening (in Gaza)," John Timmons, of Australia, said on Good Friday, when Christians in the walled Old City follow the path they believe Christ took to his crucifixion.
Mr Timmons said he had thought twice about coming.
'Speed up the pace'
Fears of a wider regional conflagration intensified yesterday as Israel struck targets of Lebanon's Hamas-allied Hezbollah movement in Syria and Lebanon.
Both Hamas and Hezbollah are backed by Iran, Israel's arch enemy.
The Israeli military said it killed the deputy commander of Hezbollah's rocket unit in south Lebanon in an air strike.
"We have turned from the ones who are repelling Hezbollah to the ones who are chasing them. We reach all the places that Hezbollah is present," Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on a visit to Northern Command, where he vowed to "speed up the pace."
In their October attack, Palestinian militants also seized about 250 hostages. Israel believes about 130 remain in Gaza, including 34 who are presumed dead.
Mr Netanyahu is under domestic pressure, facing regular demonstrations, over his failure to bring home all of the captives.
