An Israeli government spokesperson has described the Palestinian casualties during aid distribution near Gaza City as a “tragedy” and claimed initial indications were that deaths were caused by delivery drivers ploughing into a crowd, Al Jazeera reports.

“At some point, the trucks were overwhelmed and the people driving the trucks, which were Gazan civilian drivers, ploughed into the crowds of people, ultimately killing, my understanding is, tens of people,” spokesperson Avi Hyman told reporters.

“It’s obviously a tragedy but we’re not sure of the specifics quite yet.”

Separately, the Times of Israel reported that an initial army probe suggested Israeli gunfire caused only some 10 casualties out of the hundreds of people allegedly hurt and killed.