(LONDON) — More than 30 people in Gaza were killed on Monday by alleged Israeli gunfire while trying to reach food aid distribution centers, the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health (MOH) said.
One person was killed near the Netzarim corridor at a distribution site in central Gaza and 33 people were killed near an aid distribution center in Rafah in southern Gaza, according to the ministry.
An additional four people were killed at the site near the Netzarim corridor on Sunday but were not found until Monday, the MOH told ABC News.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) did not immediately return ABC News’ request for comment on the incident.
The Rev. Dr. Johnnie Moore, the executive chairman of GHF, did not address the alleged incidents in a post on X on Monday afternoon, where he said aid distribution at four sites “proceeded without incident.” He said three American contract staff sustained “minor injuries” during Iranian attacks on Israel on Sunday, but received medical attention and were diagnosed with concussions.
So far on Monday, 68 people have been killed in Gaza and at least 180 people have been injured, according to the ministry.
The aid sites, run by the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), have been steeped in controversy since they opened about three weeks ago.
The new distribution system was imposed by Israel after the government partly lifted a two-and-a-half-month blockade on all humanitarian aid, which caused widespread malnutrition and famine-like conditions, according to food security experts.
International aid organizations refused to participate in the new system, with deputy U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq saying the plan is not impartial, neutral or independent.
There have been multiple reports of Israeli forces shooting at civilians trying to reach the aid sites to get food, according to the MOH, eyewitness accounts and international aid organizations working in Gaza.
The IDF has previously released statements about the reports, saying that video footage allegedly showing the shootings is “under review.” The IDF also said it has fired “warning shots” towards people who were allegedly “advancing while posing a threat to the troops.”
The GHF previously denied reports of chaos at the distribution sites but has closed them at times due to “maintenance” and “repair work.”
Gazans have said neither the amount of aid distributed, nor the calories within the aid packages from GHF, is enough to meet the needs of the civilian population.
Dr. Abdulwhhab Abu Alamrain, a physician at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza, said having distribution sites — as opposed to meeting people where they are — does not allow for equitable aid access.
“Vulnerable families with elderly, widows with kids and sole survivor kids can never get aid [because] they would never be able to walk miles or [carry] the package or fight to get a turn in [an] unorganized aid distribution center,” he told ABC News.
Previously, aid was distributed by organizations such as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which ran hundreds of sites across the strip.
However, Israel has accused of the U.N. of being “anti-Israel and anti-Semitic” and UNRWA as being “infiltrated” by terrorism. Israel has also accused Hamas militants of stealing aid meant for civilians. Hamas denies the accusations and claims that Israel is weaponizing aid through GHF.
Dr. Ayesha Khan, a U.S. emergency medicine physician and humanitarian aid worker who did a month-long medical mission at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in late 2024, said it is frustrating to see the new distribution plan because the U.N.’s method for distributing aid in Gaza has been successful for decades.
“We have a way to distribute aid,” Khan told ABC News. “In my opinion, this GHF, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, was created in order to weaponize humanitarian aid.”
Khan said she spoke to a friend in Gaza who said he didn’t consider the GHF plan to be “humanitarian aid” but rather “humiliation aid.”
“You’ve eliminated everybody being able to get aid because getting aid is contingent upon you coming to the distribution point,” she said. “And sure enough, as soon as the people were told that there was food, after 11, 12, weeks of starvation, they swarmed the area, desperate to get food, of which there was not enough, and the soldiers opened fire.”
“The U.N. has global rules around humanitarian principles: humanity, neutrality, impartiality, independence. Those are those rules are not being followed by GHF,” Khan added.
The most recent deaths at distribution sites come as U.N. Human Rights Chief Volker Türk described Israel’s warfare in Gaza as inflicting “horrifying, unconscionable suffering” on civilians.
“Israel’s means and methods of warfare are inflicting horrifying, unconscionable suffering on Palestinians in Gaza,” Turk said during a meeting of the Humans Rights Council on Monday. “Israel has weaponized food and blocked lifesaving aid. I urge immediate, impartial investigations into deadly attacks on desperate civilians trying to reach food distribution centers. Disturbing, dehumanizing rhetoric from senior Israeli government officials is reminiscent of the gravest of crimes.”
Turk also said Israel’s refusal to allow international journalists to report from Gaza has helped Hamas “avoid transparency and accountability.”
Since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a surprise terrorist attack in Israel, more than 55,400 people have been killed in Gaza and more than 128,900 have been injured, according to the MOH.
During Hamas’s surprise attack, the militant group murdered nearly 1,200 Israelis and took captive 251 others, according to Israeli officials. Hamas is still holding 53 hostages, living and dead. Among them are the bodies of two Americans.
ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.
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