Twenty-four Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire while waiting for aid distribution, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.
They were reportedly killed in the Rafah area of southern Gaza early Tuesday.
The Hamas-run ministry claimed that dozens of people were injured, with some of them being in serious condition.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said that it had fired shots at individuals about half a kilometre from the aid distribution site of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in Gaza, adding that individuals were moving towards its forces in a way that “posed a threat to them”.
The GHF, a private group endorsed by Israel, operates as part of a controversial aid system which Israel and the US say is aimed at preventing Hamas from siphoning off assistance.
Israel has not provided any evidence of systematic diversion, and the UN denies it has occurred.
UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to work with the new aid distribution system, saying it violates humanitarian principles because it allows Israel to control who receives aid and forces people to relocate to distribution sites, risking yet more mass displacement in the territory.
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The IDF said in a statement: “Earlier today (Tuesday), during the movement of the crowd along the designated routes toward the aid distribution site – approximately half a kilometre from the site – IDF troops identified several suspects moving toward them, deviating from the designated access routes.
“The troops carried out warning fire, and after the suspects failed to retreat, additional shots were directed near a few individual suspects who advanced toward the troops.”
It also highlighted that IDF troops were “not preventing the arrival of Gazan civilians to the humanitarian aid distribution sites”.
The alleged shooting comes just two days after reports of 31 people being killed as they walked to a distribution centre run by the GHF in the Rafah area.
Witnesses said the deaths came after Israeli forces opened fire, while Palestinian and Hamas-linked media attributed the deaths they reported on to an Israeli airstrike.
The IDF later said that its forces “did not fire at civilians while they were near or within the humanitarian aid distribution site and that reports to this effect are false”.
On Monday, three more Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli fire.
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UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said he was “appalled” by reports of Palestinians killed and injured while seeking aid.
He called for an independent investigation and said: “It is unacceptable that Palestinians are risking their lives for food.”
Last week, Israel accepted a US-brokered ceasefire proposal, which would see the release over the course of a week of nine living hostages and half of the known hostages who have died.
But Hamas said that it was seeking amendments to the proposed 60-day truce, offering 10 living Israeli hostages and the bodies of 18 in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
