At least 40 Palestinians have died in new shootings by Israeli forces at aid stations in Gaza, according to local medics and officials.
This latest shooting on Tuesday raises the total Palestinians killed in such incidents to more than 500 in the last two weeks.
Exact details of the shootings are unclear, however analysis of video footage and audio recordings, as well as accounts from eye witnesses have been able to reveal what’s happening in the devastated territory.
Relaying information about what happened Tuesday, Mahmud Bassal, a civil defence spokesperson, told AFP that 25 people were killed and dozens wounded when Israeli forces targeted civilians attempting to reach an aid centre in north-west Rafah, about 2km from a US-backed aid distribution.
A second incident was reported near the Netzarim corridor, a strategic road that separates the northern third of the territory and is partially held by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
The Director of al-Awda hospital in Jabaliya, Dr Marwan Abu Nasser, told The Guardian that 18 people were brought in dead and 146 injured after waiting for aid near the Netzarim corridor.
In recent weeks, there have been multiple incidents where crowds have been fired on while waiting to get aid from one of the dozens of trucks being brought into Gaza by UN agencies each day.
There’s “critical risk of famine” in Gaza, nineteen months into the conflict, and food is extremely scarce. The tight blockade on all supplies threatens the lives of the 2.3 million people living there.
Last month, the IDF partly lifted the blockade, but continuing restrictions, airstrikes and growing anarchy means the situation remains urgent.
Over the last three weeks, the Israel- and US- backed Gaza food delivery group, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has been rolling out, but fifteen international human rights organisations have called out for them to cease their operations or face legal consequences.
The GHF has been extremely controversial among human rights advocates since replaceing most UN-run relief operations in Gaza.
In a letter sent on Monday to GHF and the affiliated Safe Reach Solutions and UG Solutions, the rights advocates warned that private contractors operating in Gaza in collaboration with the Israeli government risk “aiding and abetting or otherwise being complicit in crimes under international law, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide”.
Last week, US senator Elizabeth Warren questioned the Trump administration’s proposal to redirect $500m from USAID to go towards GHF, which is registered in the US and Switzerland.
“The questions surrounding GHF – its funding sources and connection to the Trump Administration, its use of private contractors, its ability to serve and be seen as a neutral entity, its abandonment by its founders, and its basic competence in providing aid – must be answered before the State Department commits any funding to the organization,” Warren wrote.
In a statement on Tuesday, the GHF said it had distributed 42m meals in Gaza and that aid distribution at all sites “proceeded without incident”.
The IDF has said it is looking into safety measures to guide those seeking aid and that troops have only fired at “suspects” who are believed to pose a threat to them.
The death toll in Gaza since the war broke out has reached 56,000, according to the health ministry.