Gaza’s Health Ministry says the death toll from gunfire on a crowd heading to an aid site has climbed to 31

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) - At least 31 people were killed and over 170 were wounded Sunday while on their way to receive food in the Gaza Strip, health officials and witnesses said. Witnesses said Israeli forces fired on crowds around a kilometer (1,000 yards) from an aid site run by an Israeli-backed foundation.

It was the deadliest incident yet around the new aid distribution system, which has operated for less than a week.

Israel’s military said in a statement its forces did not fire at civilians near or within the site. An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with procedure, said troops fired warning shots at several suspects advancing toward them a kilometer from the site.

The foundation - promoted by Israel and the United States - said in a statement it delivered aid "without incident.” It has denied previous accounts of chaos and gunfire around its sites, which are in Israeli military zones where independent media has no access.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement its field hospital in the southern city of Rafah received 179 casualties including women and children, 21 of them declared dead upon arrival, the majority with gunshot or shrapnel wounds.

"All patients said they had been trying to reach an aid distribution site," the ICRC said, calling it the highest number of "weapon-wounded" people in a single incident since the hospital was set up over a year ago.

"Aid distribution has become a death trap," the head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, said in a statement.

In a separate statement, Israeli military chief of staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir ordered that more aid sites be established - and that troops’ ground operation be expanded in unspecified parts of northern and southern Gaza.

A new aid system marred by chaos

Multiple witnesses have said Israeli troops fired on crowds near the new Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s sites. Before Sunday, 17 people were killed while trying to reach them, according to Zaher al-Waheidi, head of the Gaza Health Ministry's records department.

The foundation says private security contractors guarding its sites have not fired on crowds. Israel’s military has acknowledged firing warning shots on previous occasions.

The foundation said in a statement it distributed 16 truckloads of aid early Sunday "without incident," and dismissed what it described as "false reporting about deaths, mass injuries and chaos."

U.N. agencies and major aid groups have refused to work with the new system, saying it violates humanitarian principles.

'The scene was horrible'

Thousands of people headed toward the distribution site hours before dawn. As they approached, Israeli forces ordered them to disperse and come back later, witnesses said. When the crowds reached the Flag Roundabout, around 1 kilometer away, at around 3 a.m., Israeli forces opened fire, the witnesses said.

"There was fire from all directions, from naval warships, from tanks and drones," said Amr Abu Teiba, who was in the crowd.

He said he saw at least 10 bodies with gunshot wounds and several other wounded people, including women. People used carts to ferry the dead and wounded. "The scene was horrible,” he said.

Most people were shot "in the upper part of their bodies, including the head, neck and chest,” said Dr. Marwan al-Hams, a Health Ministry official at Nasser Hospital, where many were transferred from the Red Cross field hospital.

A colleague, surgeon Khaled al-Ser, later said 150 wounded people had arrived, along with 28 bodies.

Ibrahim Abu Saoud, another witness, said the military fired from about 300 meters (yards) away. He said he saw many people with gunshot wounds, including a young man who died at the scene. "We weren't able to help him," he said.

Mohammed Abu Teaima, 33, said he saw Israeli forces open fire and kill his cousin and a woman as they headed toward the distribution site. He said his cousin was shot in his chest, and his brother-in-law was among the wounded.

"They opened heavy fire directly toward us," he said.

An AP reporter arrived at the field hospital at around 6 a.m. and saw dozens of wounded, including women and children. The reporter also saw crowds of people returning from the distribution point. Some carried boxes of aid but most appeared to be empty-handed.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said least 31 people were killed and over 170 were wounded.

"This is sinful, enough with the humiliation. They humiliated us for the sake of food," said Ilham Jarghon as fellow Palestinians wept and prayed for the dead.

The UN says new aid system violates humanitarian principles

Israel and the U.S. say the new system is aimed at preventing Hamas from siphoning off assistance. Israel has not provided evidence of systematic diversion, and the U.N. denies it has occurred.

U.N. agencies and major aid groups say the new system allows Israel to control who receives aid and forces people to relocate to distribution sites, risking yet more mass displacement in the coastal territory.

"It’s essentially engineered scarcity,” Jonathan Whittall, interim head in Gaza of the U.N. humanitarian office, said last week.

The U.N. system has struggled to bring in aid after Israel slightly eased its nearly three-month blockade of the territory last month. The groups say Israeli restrictions, the breakdown of law and order and widespread looting make it extremely difficult to deliver aid to Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians.

Experts have warned that the territory is at risk of famine if more aid is not brought in.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. They are still holding 58 hostages, around a third believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel’s military campaign has killed over 54,000 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants. The offensive has destroyed vast areas, displaced around 90% of the population and left people almost completely reliant on international aid.

The latest efforts at ceasefire talks appeared to stumble Saturday when Hamas said it had sought amendments to a U.S. ceasefire proposal that Israel had approved, and the U.S. envoy called that "unacceptable."

Mediators Qatar and Egypt in a joint statement Sunday said they continued "intensive efforts to bridge the gaps in viewpoints" and hoped for "a swift agreement for a temporary ceasefire lasting 60 days, leading to a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip."