AT least eight Palestinians were killed and dozens more wounded by Israeli military on Sunday in a shooting at Israeli and US-supported food distribution points in the Gaza Strip, according to health officials.
Witnesses said Israeli forces opened fire around dawn towards crowds of desperate Palestinians heading to two aid sites in Rafah.
Experts and aid workers say Israel’s blockade and military campaign have caused widespread hunger and raised the risk of famine.
The shooting happened hundreds of metres away from the sites, which are operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a group that Israel and the United States hope will replace the United Nations-run system of aid distribution.
The UN has rejected the new system, saying it violates humanitarian principles.
There have been near-daily shootings near the sites since they opened last month.
Witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly fired on the crowds and health officials say scores have been killed.
The military has acknowledged firing warning shots at what it says were suspects approaching its forces.
“There were wounded, dead, and martyrs,” Ahmed al-Masri told The Associated Press on Sunday as he returned from one of the sites empty-handed.
“It’s a trap.”
Umm Hosni al-Najjar said she joined the crowd heading to the aid point in Rafah’s Tal al-Sultan neighbourhood at around 4.30am local time.
She said the shooting began as people were advancing to the site a few minutes after her arrival.
“There were many wounded and martyrs,” she said.
“No one was able to evacuate them.”
The Nasser Hospital in the nearby city of Khan Younis said it received eight bodies after the shooting.
The aid system, rolled out last month, has been marred by chaos and violence, while the UN system has struggled to deliver food because of Israeli restrictions and a breakdown of law and order, despite Israel loosening the total blockade it imposed from early March to mid-May.
Israel and the US claim Hamas has siphoned aid off of the UN-run system, while UN officials say there is no evidence of systematic diversion.
The UN says the new system does not meet Gaza’s needs, allows Israel to control who gets aid and risks further mass displacement as people move closer to the sites.
Two are in the southernmost city of Rafah – now mostly inhabited – and all three are in Israeli military zones that are off limits to independent media.
