At least 38 Palestinians were killed Monday near food distribution centers in southern Gaza, backed by Israel and the U.S., according to the local Health Ministry, amid renewed outbreaks of violence.
The toll was the deadliest yet in the near-daily shootings that have taken place as thousands of Palestinians move through Israeli military-controlled areas to reach the food centers run by the private contractor Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). Two witnesses said Israeli troops opened fire early Monday in an attempt to control the crowds.
There was no immediate comment by the Israeli military. It has said in previous instances that troops fired warning shots at what it calls suspects approaching their positions.
Gaza's Health Ministry said most of the dead were trying to reach the GHF center near the southern city of Rafah, though a few were on the roads to a newly opened hub on the outskirts of the nearby city of Khan Younis.
Two Palestinians trying to get food at the Rafah site, Heba Jouda and Mohammed Abed, told The Associated Press that Israeli forces fired on the crowds at around 4 a.m. at the Flag Roundabout.
The traffic circle, hundreds of meters (yards) from the GHF center, has repeatedly been the scene of shootings. The military has designated specific routes to access the food centers and GHF has warned aid-seekers that leaving the roads is dangerous, but many do in an attempt to get to the food first.
Israel and the United States say the new GHF system is needed to prevent Hamas from siphoning off aid. GHF says there has been no violence in or around the sites themselves.
U.N. agencies and major aid groups, which have delivered humanitarian aid across Gaza since the start of Israel's genocidal war, have rejected the new system, saying it can't meet the territory's needs and allows Israel to use aid as a weapon. They deny there is widespread theft of aid by Hamas.
Palestinian health officials say scores of people have been killed and hundreds wounded since the sites opened last month.
Experts have warned that Israel's ongoing military campaign and restrictions on the entry of aid have put Gaza, which is home to some 2 million Palestinians, at risk of famine.
