Fury in Gaza as at least 27 Palestinians shot dead near food distribution point

At least 27 Palestinians have been killed and dozens wounded by army gunfire near a food distribution point.

It is the third consecutive day of similar incidents as attempts to bring a in new type of aid distribution regime In One foreign medic described the scene as 'total carnage'. The military said its forces had opened fire on a group of individuals who had left designated areas.

The aid point is being run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) a newly created body backed by the and Israel. The has issued warnings about the way aid is now being delivered. UN human rights chief Volker Türk it was ‘dehumanising’ and ‘unacceptable.' He said: ‘It’s heartbreaking. I cannot believe that humanitarian aid is delivered in such circumstances. IIt’s unacceptable, it’s dehumanising and I really hope there is a rethinking of the whole absolute need to get humanitarian aid in quickly and not through the current system.

'I think what it shows is utter disregard for civilians. Can you imagine people that have been absolutely desperate for food, for medicine, for almost three months, and then they have to run for it or try to get it in the most desperate circumstances.’ Mahmoud Basal, a spokesman for Gaza's Hamas-run Civil Defence agency, said that civilians were fired upon by tanks, quadcopter drones, and helicopters near the al-Alam roundabout, about half a mile from the aid distribution centre. In a statement, the IDF said its troops were ‘not preventing the arrival of Gazan civilians to the humanitarian aid distribution sites.

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‘The warning shots were fired approximately half a kilometre away from the humanitarian aid distribution site toward several suspects who advanced toward the troops in such a way that posed a threat to them.’ This morning’s incident is very close to the location where the Hamas-run health ministry said Israeli forces killed 31 people on Sunday.

A spokesman for Hamas described the aid distribution operation as the ‘Israeli-American mechanism’ and said the process has become “a trap of death and humiliation. He said: ‘Its goal is not relief, but rather to break the dignity of our people and turn the lives of those under siege into hell, serving the purposes of forced displacement.’ Israel set up the GHF as a way to bypass the UN as the main supplier of aid in Gaza, claiming an alternative was needed to stop Hamas stealing the aid.

The GHF said distribution ‘was conducted safely and without incident’ at its site today. A spokesman said: ‘We understand that IDF is investigating whether a number of civilians were injured after moving beyond the designated safe corridor and into a closed military zone.. This was an area well beyond our secure distribution site and operations area. We recognise the difficult nature of the situation and advise all civilians to remain in the safe corridor when traveling to our distribution sites.’