Israeli forces have killed 23 Palestinians after opening fire on crowds gathered near an aid distribution site, witnesses and medics say.
Tanks and drones fired at thousands of people near a distribution centre in central Gaza run by the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the witnesses and medics said.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said troops fired warning shots after people gathered nearby.
An Israeli aircraft then struck “several suspects” who the IDF said continued walking towards troops.
The GHF has denied a shooting occurred near its sites. The Hamas-run health ministry says more than 400 Palestinians have been killed in similar incidents since late May.
That is when the GHF took over most aid distribution in Gaza in an attempt by Israel to bypass the UN as the main supplier of aid.
The move followed a complete three-month Israeli blockade during which no food entered the territory, putting the entire population at critical risk of famine, according to a UN-backed assessment.
In almost all incidents, witnesses have said that Israeli troops opened fire, although there have also been reports of local gunmen shooting at people.
A spokesperson for al-Awda hospital in Nuseirat confirmed they received 23 bodies and more than 100 wounded. Images from the hospital showed bodies on the floor.
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The IDF said the incident was under review.
The UN children’s agency, UNICEF, said the Israel- and US-backed food distribution system run by GHF was “making a desperate humanitarian situation worse”.
UNICEF spokesperson James Elder said a lack of public clarity on when the sites, some of which are in combat zones, were open was leading to mass casualty events.
“There have been instances where information was shared that a site is open, but then it’s communicated on social media that they’re closed, but that information was shared when Gaza’s internet was down and people had no access to it,” he told reporters in Geneva.
He said many women and children had been wounded while trying to receive food aid, including a young boy who was wounded by a tank shell and later died.
On Thursday, at least 12 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces while waiting for aid, according to rescuers and medics.
