At least 23 more Palestinians killed, 200 wounded near aid site in Rafah: medics
UN denounces Israeli-backed aid system, describing it as 'lethal distribution system'
Israeli fire killed at least 50 people on Monday, nearly half of them near an aid distribution site run by the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the territory's Health Ministry said, as UN officials denounced Israeli-backed aid delivery methods.
Medics said at least 23 of those people were killed and 200 others wounded near an aid distribution site in Rafah, the latest in daily mass shootings that have killed hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach food since Israel imposed a new distribution system after partly lifting a total blockade of nearly three months.
Israel has put responsibility for distributing much of the aid it allows into Gaza in the hands of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which operates three sites in areas guarded by Israeli troops. The United Nations has rejected the plan, saying GHF distribution is inadequate, dangerous and violates humanitarian impartiality principles.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military about Monday's reports of shootings. In previous incidents, it has occasionally acknowledged troops opening fire near aid sites, while blaming militants for provoking the violence.
The GHF said in a statement late on Monday that it has distributed more than three million meals at its four distribution sites without incident.
Mahmoud Shabat, one of those who tried to reach aid on Monday, crouched next to the bodies of loved ones wrapped in white shrouds at a funeral at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
"What caused us to go? Hunger. We travelled 50 kilometres to get there," Shabat told CBC News, as relatives around him wept, mourning the dead.
"I would advise everyone to avoid going there. Five people will go and only three will return. And if two go, only one will return."
Another man, Ahmed Al-Raqab, said if Palestinians are able to get food at these sites, many times it is soaked in the blood of those killed or injured there.
"I've gone maybe five times. The one time we got food, we saw death and we saw cruelty," Al-Raqab told CBC's freelance videographer on Monday.
'Lethal distribution system'
Later on Monday, local health authorities said Israeli gunfire killed at least five people and wounded dozens of others as crowds of Palestinians gathered along the coastal road awaiting UN-funded aid trucks to enter the northern Gaza area.
Witnesses said dozens of desperate people looted four truckloads of food packages.
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations Palestinian refugees agency UNRWA, said in a post on X: "Scores of people have been killed & injured in the past days, including of starving people trying to get some food from a lethal distribution system."
Before the new system was set up, aid had been distributed to Gaza's 2.3 million residents mainly by UN agencies such as UNRWA, which employ thousands of staff inside Gaza and operate hundreds of sites across the breadth of the enclave.
Israel says it has had to crack down on distribution because Hamas fighters were diverting food aid. The militants deny this and say Israel is using hunger as a weapon.
Lazzarini said Israel had not lifted restrictions on UN agencies including UNRWA bringing in aid, despite an abundance of assistance ready to be moved into the enclave.
On Sunday, COGAT, the Israeli military aid co-ordination agency, said that this week it had facilitated the entry of 292 trucks with humanitarian aid from the United Nations and the international community, including food and flour, into Gaza.
It said the Israeli military would continue to permit the entry of humanitarian aid while ensuring it did not reach Hamas.
At least 300 killed since sites opened
Before Monday's incident, Gaza's Health Ministry said that at least 300 people had so far been killed with more than 2,600 wounded near aid distribution sites since the GHF began operations.
In Geneva, Volker Turk, UN rights chief, told the UN Human Rights Council on Monday that Israel had "weaponized" food in Gaza. He repeated a call for investigations into deadly attacks near the GHF distribution sites.
"Israel's means and methods of warfare are inflicting horrifying, unconscionable suffering on Palestinians in Gaza," said Turk.
"Disturbing, dehumanizing rhetoric from senior Israeli government officials is reminiscent of the gravest of crimes," he added.
On Sunday, at least five people were killed as thousands of Palestinians approached two GHF distribution sites in the central and southern the enclave.
The war in Gaza erupted 20 months ago after Hamas-led militants raided Israel and took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, on Oct.7, 2023.
Israel's military campaign since has killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and flattened much of the densely populated strip. Most of the population is displaced, and widespread malnutrition is a significant concern.
With files from CBC's Mohamed El Saife