Israel on Monday killed at least 45 starving Palestinians, who were waiting to receive the much-needed humanitarian aid at the distribution sites of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), in southern Gaza's Rafah.
The newly established aid-distribution system was described as a "death trap" by various aid organisations and the UN who refused to cooporate with the GHF, stating it has been aiding Israel in its genocidal war against Gaza.
The United Nations human rights chief on Monday condemned Israel's conduct in its war and said that the “means and methods of warfare are inflicting horrifying, unconscionable suffering on Palestinians in Gaza.”
"Israel has weaponised food and blocked lifesaving aid,” Turk said while presenting his annual report to the UN Human Rights Council.
"I urge immediate, impartial investigations into deadly attacks on desperate civilians to reach food distribution centres," he said adding that the "disturbing, dehumanising rhetoric from senior Israeli government officials is reminiscent of the gravest of crimes."
At least 300 Palestinians have been killed by Israel near the GHF aid distribution sites since it began its operations.
Israeli troops started firing as thousands of Palestinians massed around 4 a.m. at the Flag Roundabout before the scheduled opening time of the Rafah food centre, according to Heba Jouda and Mohamed Abed, two Palestinians who were in the crowd.
People fell to the ground, trying to take cover, they said. “Fire was coming from everywhere,” said Jouda, who has repeatedly made the journey to get food for her family over the past week. "It’s getting worse day by day," she said.
The Red Cross field hospital nearby received some 200 injured Monday, the highest single mass casualty event it has seen, the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement. Only a day earlier, it said, around 170 were brought to the facility, most of them wounded by gunshots while trying to reach the GHF center.
The Flag Roundabout, hundreds of meters (yards) from the GHF center, has been the scene of repeated shootings. It is on the route designated by the Israeli military for people to take to reach the center.
Palestinians over the past weeks have said Israeli troops open fire to prevent people from moving past a certain point on the road before the scheduled opening of the center or because people leave the road.
Meanwhile, a GHF spokesperson was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that “none of the incidents to date have occurred at our sites or during operating hours.”
It said the incidents have involved aid-seekers who were moving “during prohibited times ... or trying to take a shortcut.” It said it was trying to improve safety measures, including by recently moving the opening times from nighttime to daylight hours.
The GHF was established after international pressure forced Israel to allow limited aid into Gaza after a three-month-long blockade of humanitarian assistance, which pushed the war-ravaged territory's entire population into a famine-like situation.
Israel has been accused by UN agencies and rights organisations of "weaponising" starvation against the Palestinians.
Israel has so far killed at least 55,362 Palestinians, mostly women and children in its genocidal war against Gaza. It has also targeted and killed healthcare workers, aid workers and journalists.
