Palestinian health officials and witnesses say at least 27 were killed after Israeli forces fired on people as they headed toward an aid distribution site on Tuesday.
It is the third such incident in three days. The Israeli army said it fired “near a few individual suspects” who left the designated route, approached its forces and ignored warning shots, reports AP.
The near-daily shootings have come after the Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation established aid distribution points inside Israeli military zones, a system it says is designed to circumvent Hamas.
The United Nations has rejected the new system, saying it does not address Gaza’s mounting hunger crisis and allows Israel to weaponise aid.
The Israeli military said it was looking into reports of casualties on Tuesday. It previously said it fired warning shots at suspects who approached its forces early Sunday and Monday, when health officials and witnesses said 34 people were killed. The military denies opening fire on civilians or blocking them from reaching the aid sites.
The shootings all occurred at the Flag Roundabout, around a kilometer (1,000 yards) from one of the GHF’s distribution sites in the now mostly uninhabited southern city of Rafah. The entire area is an Israeli military zone where journalists have no access outside of army-approved embeds.
Hisham Mhanna, a spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross, said its field hospital in Rafah received 184 wounded people, 19 of whom were declared dead on arrival and eight more who later died of their wounds.
The 27 dead were transferred to Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis.
Yasser Abu Lubda, a 50-year-old displaced Palestinian from Rafah, said the shooting started around 4am (GMT 1am) in the city’s Flag Roundabout area, around one kilometer (1,000 yards) away from the aid distribution hub. He said he saw several people killed or wounded.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said Tuesday that three of its soldiers were killed in the Gaza Strip, in what appeared to be the deadliest attack on Israel’s forces since it ended a ceasefire with Hamas in March.