At least 19 people killed in stampede at Gaza food distribution site

At least 20 Palestinians were killed on Wednesday at an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), in what the U.S.-backed group said was a crowd surge instigated by armed agitators.

The GHF, which is supported by Israel, said 19 people were trampled and another fatally stabbed during the crush at one of its centres in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Eyewitnesses told CBC News that guards at the site used pepper spray, tear gas and sound bombs directed at them.

Hani Hammad, 18, said he was caught in the middle of the crowd surge when he became trapped and unable to get out.

"I got stuck and I was being trampled on for maybe 30 minutes and I lost consciousness," Hammad told CBC News freelance videographer Mohamed El Saife.

Witnesses said they were ultimately trapped between the gates and the outer wire fence after the guards closed the gates on them.

"People kept gathering and pressuring each other; when people pushed each other ... those who couldn't stand fell under the people and were crushed," said another eyewitness, Mahmoud Fojo, 21, who was hurt in the stampede.

"Some people started jumping over the netted fence and got wounded. We were injured, and God saved us. We were under the people and we said the Shahada [death prayers]. We thought we were dying, finished," he added.

In a statement, GHF said it had "credible reason to believe that elements within the crowd — armed and affiliated with Hamas — deliberately fomented the unrest."

Hamas rejected the GHF allegation as "false and misleading," saying GHF guards and Israeli soldiers sprayed people with pepper gas and opened fire.

GHF said Hamas's account was "blatantly false."

"At no point was tear gas deployed, nor were shots fired into the crowd. Limited use of pepper spray was deployed, only to safeguard additional loss of life," GHF said in a written response to Reuters via e-mail.

"Today's incident is part of a larger pattern of Hamas trying to undermine and ultimately end GHF. It is no coincidence that this incident occurred during ceasefire negotiations, where Hamas continues to demand that GHF cease operations."

Palestinian health officials told Reuters people had died of suffocation at the site. One medic said lots of people had been crammed into a small space and had been crushed.