Israeli gunfire killed at least three Palestinians and wounded dozens of others near an aid distribution site operated by the US-Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), local health authorities have reported.
The Israeli military said it was aware of reports of casualties and claimed the incident was being thoroughly looked into.
It also claimed in a statement that troops operating overnight in Rafah, which is under full Israeli military control, in southern Gaza, had fired warning shots "to prevent several suspects approaching them", adding the incident took place about 1km away from the aid distribution site.
The GHF, a private group sponsored by the United States and endorsed by Israel, claimed there had been no fatalities or injuries at its distribution site or the surrounding area.
Reuters could not independently verify what took place.
The reported incident was the latest in a series underscoring the volatile security situation that has complicated aid delivery to Gaza, following the easing last month of an almost three-month Israeli blockade.
Palestinian and international officials said yesterday that at least 31 people were killed and dozens wounded near the same site, one of four operated by the GHF in Rafah.
UN Secretary General António Guterres said he was appalled by reports of Palestinians killed and injured while seeking aid in Gaza and called for an independent investigation.
The Israeli military denied firing at people gathering to collect aid, and the GHF said yesterday's distribution was carried out without incident, describing reports of deaths as fabricated by Hamas.
In a separate statement, the Israeli military claimed that in the past day its forces expanded ground operations in Gaza, killed gunmen, and dismantled weapons storage facilities and military infrastructure above and under the ground.
Meanwhile, the Gaza health ministry said Israeli attacks across the enclave had killed 51 people and wounded 500 others in the past 24 hours.
Risk of famine
The GHF claimed its deliveries today raised the number of meals it has distributed since it began operations to nearly 6 million.
The United Nations has said most of Gaza's 2 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade on aid entering the territory.
The GHF launched its first distribution sites last week and said it would launch more.
Its aid plan, which bypasses traditional aid groups, has come under fierce criticism from the UN and humanitarian organisations, which say the GHF does not follow humanitarian principles.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
The Palestinian NGOs Network urged a boycott of what it called the "US-Israeli aid mechanism" in protest over the killings yesterday.
At Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, relatives of Hussam Wafi, a 37-year-old father-of-six, who was killed near the aid site yesterday, arrived to pay their last respects before burial.
Mr Wafi's brother, Ali, said the victims were driven by hunger.
"The US and Israel, what do they tell us? Go and get your food and water, and the aid. When the aid arrives, they hit us. Is this fair?" He said.
"They were going peacefully, they were killed. They went to get food and water for their children, to get a can of hummus or fava beans, a box or whatever is available, and they get shot, they died," he added.
Hospital running out of essentials - Doctor
A British plastic surgeon working in Gaza has said that the hospital she is working at is running out of essential supplies that cannot be substituted.
Dr Victoria Rose said medics at the Nasser Hospital have been forced to water down cleaning fluid and have been economical with anaesthetics.
She described this practice as "brutal" but acknowledged it as a necessity.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Dr Rose described the situation at the Nasser Hospital in Gaza yesterday following an attack near an aid distribution centre in Rafah.
More than 30 Palestinians were killed and dozens more injured in southern Gaza near a humanitarian aid distribution site run by a US company, according to local health officials.
Witnesses said the Israeli military had opened fire as Palestinians gathered to collect food in Rafah.
The Israeli military denied it had fired towards civilians.
Dr Rose said by midday yesterday medics at the hospital had received 28 dead bodies and declared five people dead in the emergency department.
She added that there were more than 200 gunshot wound victims.
"We know there were more involved in the incident than we actually treated," she said.
Dr Rose said that there had been a huge number of children coming in with significant, disfiguring and life-changing injuries.
She said children make up at least 50% of the operating list.
"Essentially these children have been blown up and are missing bits of their body...it's quite upsetting," she said.
She added that due to a loss of fat and muscle bulk in their body, they are smaller and thinner, with malnutrition affecting the immune system and healing.
She said that with infection setting in in children, it is progressing to life-threatening sepsis which is avoidable and would not happen in the Western world.
Dr Rose said that she is leaving Nasser Hospital tomorrow, adding that after she leaves there will be no plastic surgeon at the hospital until July.
She said it is difficult knowing that her chances of being let back in to Gaza may have gone right down due to media coverage.
"It’s quite disappointing leaving now and not knowing when or if I’ll ever be allowed back in."
Ceasefire talks to resume
Israel and Hamas, meanwhile, traded blame for the faltering of a new Arab and US mediation bid to secure a temporary ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza by Hamas, in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli jails.
A Palestinian official close to the mediation effort said Hamas leaders were in constant contact with Egyptian and Qatari mediators in Cairo and Doha.
Israel claims it accepts a temporary truce to release hostages, but that war can only end once Hamas is driven out of Gaza.
Israel began its war in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli tallies, and saw 251 taken as hostages into Gaza.
Israel's invasion and attacks have killed more than 54,000 Palestinians and destroying most buildings. Much of the population now lives in shelters in makeshift camps.
