At least 36 people were killed and 208 wounded when Israeli forces fired towards crowds near a food distribution centre in Gaza on Tuesday morning, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

Footage supplied to Sky News shows people shouting and screaming as they flee explosions in the distance.

Dead and wounded people can be seen being carried away from the scene while thick smoke billows into the air.

The incident is the latest in a series of reports of Palestinians being killed by Israeli gunfire near one of the distribution centres operated by a new organisation which is permitted by the IDF to hand out aid in the territory.

One man seen in the footage says: “We want to live, we want to eat. We have children and wives. We want to live in our homes. Three years of war, bodies ripped apart, all this, for some flour.”

Humanitarian aid workers and experts have warned Israel’s blockade of Gaza and its military campaign has pushed the besieged enclave to the brink of famine.

Around 160 people have been killed in shootings near aid sites run by the new Israel and US-backed organisation, the health ministry has said.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which runs the sites, said there has been no violence in or around the distribution centres themselves.

However, it has warned people to stay on designated access routes and paused delivery last week while it held talks with Israel’s military on improving safety.

Israel’s military said in a statement its forces fired warning shots at suspects who were advancing and posed a threat to troops “despite warnings that the area is an active combat zone”.

It said it was aware of reports several people had been injured but its initial inquiry suggests the number “does not align with the information held” by the Israeli military.

“The warning shots were fired hundreds of metres from the aid distribution site, prior to its opening hours and toward the suspects who posed a threat to the troops,” it said, adding that the details are under review.

The government media office of Hamas said: “In a new crime added to the bloody record of the ‘Israeli’ occupation, the number of victims of the ‘Israeli-American aid distribution centres’ since Tuesday morning rose to 36 martyrs and more than 208 injuries, bringing the total number of victims of the ‘Israeli-American aid distribution centres’ to 163 martyrs and 1,495 injuries, all of whom are starving civilians seeking a living under siege and starvation.”

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Sanctioning of ministers adds to Israel’s growing ostracisation over Gaza and West Bank

Israeli government ministers sanctioned

It comes as the UK government sanctioned two Israeli government ministers due to their “repeated incitements of violence against Palestinian civilians”, the Foreign Office said.

The UK imposed sanctions on Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich alongside Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway.

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They are being sanctioned in their personal capacities and are now subject to a freeze on UK assets and director disqualifications, and banned from entering the country.

The sanctions were criticised by US secretary of state Marco Rubio who said on X: “These sanctions do not advance US-led efforts to achieve a ceasefire, bring all hostages home, and end the war.”

Greta Thunberg accuses Israel of ‘illegal act’

Earlier in the day Greta Thunberg accused Israel of committing “an illegal act” after the Gaza-bound aid boat she was on was seized by the country’s military and she was deported to France.

Students and adults are among 10 victims who were killed after a gunman opened fire at a secondary school in the Austrian city of Graz.

Interior minister Gerhard Karner said earlier that a further 12 people were injured in the shooting at the BORG Dreierschützengasse high school in Austria’s second-biggest city.

However Mr Karner gave the figure before it was confirmed that a person in hospital with life-threatening injuries had become the 10th person to die. It is not clear if this reduces the number of those injured to 11.

The interior minister also said the suspect was a former pupil of the school who didn’t finish his studies.

Police have said the 21-year-old Austrian gunman was found dead in the toilets of the school after the shootings and was operating alone.

As it happened: 10 killed in Austria school shooting

Authorities say he had two weapons, reported to be a shotgun and a pistol, which he appeared to have owned legally.

Police have said they did not have information about his possible motive.

Meanwhile, investigators have found a farewell letter at the house of the suspect, the Kronen newspaper in Austria reports.

Footage shared online revealed how gunshots and screaming could be heard after the gunman entered the school before opening fire.

French education minister Elisabeth Borne has said that one of those who died was a “young fellow citizen” of France.

It came as the mother of a child who survived the shooting retold the distressing moment she received a phone call from her son.

“My son called me to say he was in school and that he was being shot and that he thought he was going to die,” she said.

“I’ve only found out now, two hours later, that he’s still alive.”

Read more:
What we know about the shooting so far

Special forces were among those sent to the school, just under a mile from Graz’s historic centre, after a call at 10am local time (9am UK time).

Around an hour and half later, police wrote on X that the school had been evacuated and everyone had been taken to a safe meeting point.

Police deployed in large numbers, with emergency vehicles guarding the area around the school and with at least one police helicopter flying above.

Graz, Austria’s second-biggest city, is located in the southeast of the country and about 300,000 live there.

A ‘dark day’

Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said there would be three days of national mourning, with the Austrian flag lowered to half-mast and a national minute of mourning at 10am on Wednesday (9am BST).

He said that it was “a dark day in the history of our country”.

President Alexander Van der Bellen said that “this horror cannot be captured in words”.

“These were young people who had their whole lives ahead of them. A teacher who accompanied them on their way,” he said.

Well-wishers later lit candles and placed them in the main square in Graz city centre on Tuesday night as a tribute to the shooting victims.

People were seen quietly reflecting as the city tried to come to terms with the deadly attack.

The school where the attack took place had earlier posted a message on Instagram following the tragedy.

The message is written in German, the official language of Austria, and translates in English to: “It was a really terrible day that deeply impacted and affected us all.

“Let us continue to stand together as a school community and support one another.

“Your teachers and your principal.”

Fireworks, petrol bombs and glass bottles have been thrown at riot police as unrest in Ballymena continued for a second night.

Water cannon and plastic baton rounds were used to disperse hundreds of protesters in the Co Antrim town – with officers wearing armour and carrying shields.

Several blazes were reported in the worst-affected areas, with cars set alight and house windows smashed. Police sirens continued to blare throughout the town past midnight.

Clothes belonging to at least one protester caught fire during the disorder.

Some properties displayed signs about the nationality of the residents inside – including one saying “British household”.

Sky correspondent Connor Gillies, who is in Ballymena, says some families have had to barricade themselves into the attics of their homes as the clashes worsen.

“The talk here in this town is that it could go on for weeks yet,” he added.

The violent disorder started on Monday, following a peaceful protest supporting the family of a girl who was allegedly sexually assaulted in the area over the weekend.

Two 14-year-old boys were charged with attempted rape and were remanded in custody when they appeared at Coleraine Magistrates’ Court on Monday. The charges were read to them by a Romanian interpreter.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland said on Tuesday that it had made a third arrest in connection with the alleged rape, and is continuing to urge anyone with information to come forward.

The 28-year-old man has since been unconditionally released from custody following questioning.

PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson described the scenes in Ballymena as “racist thuggery” and said the force was “actively working to identify those responsible” for the “racially motivated disorder”.

Mr Henderson said people from ethnic minorities have “felt fear” – and there will be a significant policing operation in the town in the coming days to reassure the community.

At least 15 police officers were injured on Monday.

A 29-year-old man was arrested during the unrest on Monday night and charged with riotous and disorderly behaviour, attempted criminal damage and resisting police.

Mr Henderson said other arrests are expected following the examination of video footage.

Local MP Jim Allister said tensions over immigration had been building for some time.

Mr Henderson said there was no intelligence suggesting the disorder was orchestrated, but added that some at the protest were “clearly intent on violence” and had prepared petrol bombs and masonry to use as missiles.

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Downing Street said there was “no justification” for the violence.

Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman said: “The disorder we saw in Ballymena is very concerning.”

He added: “Obviously, the reports of sexual assault in the area are extremely distressing, but there is no justification for attacks on police officers while they continue to protect local communities.

“PSNI and the justice system must be allowed to carry out their jobs and our thoughts are with the victims of the assault as well as the police officers who were injured.”

Hilary Benn, secretary of state for Northern Ireland, said on X that the “terrible scenes of civil disorder” seen on Monday and Tuesday night “have no place in Northern Ireland”.