Hamas-controlled health officials and witnesses said Sunday at least four people were killed and others were wounded by Israeli fire around a kilometer (half-mile) from an aid distribution point in the Gaza Strip run by an Israeli- and US-backed group.
The Israel Defense Forces said soldiers fired warning shots at people who approached its forces.
The deaths could not be confirmed, and Hamas figures do not distinguish between fighters and noncombatants.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s operations in the coastal enclave amid the ongoing war have been plagued by alleged deadly shootings for multiple days in a row.
It had earlier said it would open just one aid distribution site in central Gaza Sunday, after keeping its three sites closed the day before over what it said were threats from Hamas against its staff.
The bodies from the latest incident were brought to Nasser Hospital in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis, which confirmed the toll. Palestinian witnesses said Israeli forces had fired on them at a roundabout in the nearby city of Rafah as they went to get food from a site run by the GHF.
The military said it fired warning shots at people it said were suspects who had advanced toward its forces and ignored warnings to turn away. It said the shooting occurred in an area in southern Gaza that is considered an active combat zone at night.
The GHF did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It says there has been no violence at the sites themselves. But it also closed them temporarily last week to discuss safety measures with the Israeli military and has warned people to stay on designated access routes.
The past two weeks have seen frequent shootings near the new hubs where thousands of desperate Palestinians are being directed to collect food.
Witnesses say nearby Israeli troops have opened fire, and more than 80 people have been killed, according to Hamas-controlled hospital officials. Israel’s military has said it fired warning shots or, in some instances, fired near individuals approaching its forces.
Witnesses said Sunday’s shooting occurred at around 6 a.m., when they were told the site would open. Many had headed toward it early to try and get food before the crowds.
Adham Dahman, 30, who was at Nasser Hospital with a bandage on his chin, said a tank had fired toward them. “We didn’t know how to escape,” he said. “This is trap for us, not aid.”
Zahed Ben Hassan, another witness, said someone next to him was shot in the head. He said that he and others pulled the body from the scene and managed to flee to the hospital.
“They said it was a safe area from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. … So why did they start shooting at us?” he said. “There was light out, and they have their cameras and can clearly see us.”
The military had announced on Friday that the sites would be open during those hours, and that the area would be a closed military zone from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m.
Since launching its operations late last month, GHF has opened three hubs in southern Gaza, of which only two have been functional in recent days, and not consistently.
The agency has faced heavy scrutiny from other aid bodies, as well as the UN and foreign countries, which say that it does not sufficiently address the humanitarian needs in the war-torn Palestinian enclave.
Critics have also accused GHF of putting aid seekers in harm’s way, with operations beset by deadly incidents for multiple days in a row.
The first mass casualty event occurred last Sunday as hundreds of Gazans made their way to a Israeli- and US-backed aid distribution compound in Rafah — the only one open that day — after the partial easing of the more than two-month blockade on aid into the Strip.
Hamas-controlled health authorities in the war-torn enclave reported that 31 people were killed and nearly 200 were wounded in the predawn shooting last Sunday near the distribution center, for which the IDF largely denied responsibility.
The death toll could not be verified, nor could the subsequent Hamas-issued tolls of three killed on Monday and 27 killed on Tuesday in similar incidents.
Though the UN has continued to distribute aid in the Strip while GHF finds its footing, it has complained that it has been unable to deliver much of its humanitarian supplies due to IDF restrictions on movements and because roads that the military designates for its trucks to use are unsafe and vulnerable to looters.
Israel and the United States accuse the Hamas terror group of stealing aid, while the UN denies there is any systematic diversion away from civilians. The UN says the new system is unable to meet mounting needs and allows Israel to use aid as a weapon by determining who can receive it and by forcing people to relocate to where the aid sites are positioned.