Sawt Falasteen - Gaza rescuers say Israeli fire kills 31 near aid site

Israel has faced growing condemnation over the humanitarian crisis in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, where the United Nations has warned the entire population faces famine after no aid had been allowed to enter for more than two months.

Israel has recently eased its blockade and introduced a revamped aid mechanism in cooperation with a newly formed US-backed organisation, bypassing the longstanding UN-led system.

The organisation, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), says it has distributed millions of meals since operations began last week, but the rollout has been marked by chaotic scenes at the limited number of distribution centres, as well as reports of casualties from Israeli fire nearby.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that "31 people were killed and more than 176 injured... after Israeli gunfire targeted thousands of civilians near the American aid centre in Rafah", in southern Gaza.

AFP images showed Palestinians transporting bodies on donkey carts near the aid point as others carried away boxes and bags of supplies under the early-morning sun.

Abdullah Barbakh, a 58-year-old Palestinian man, described "chaos, screaming and overcrowding" at the site.

"The army opened fire from drones and tanks," he said. "I don't understand why they call people to the aid centres and then open fire on them."

Near another GHF aid centre in central Gaza, AFP images showed rescuers evacuating injured people. Bassal reported one dead and dozens wounded there, also blaming Israeli fire.

The Israeli military said it was "unaware of injuries" caused by its fire at the Rafah aid centre, while a GHF spokesperson said the reports were "untrue and fabricated".

"All aid was distributed today without incident," the spokesperson said, adding that "these fake reports have been actively fomented by Hamas".

- 'Death follows you' -

Sameh Hamuda, a 33-year-old displaced from northern Gaza, told AFP he had walked from Gaza City -- more than 25 kilometres (15 miles) away -- and spent the night with relatives in a tent near Rafah before heading to the aid centre around 5:00 am to wait among a crowd of people.

"Suddenly quadcopter drones opened fire on the people, and tanks started shooting heavily. Several people were killed right in front of me," he said.

"I ran and survived. Death follows you as long as you're in Gaza."

At a hospital in central Gaza, Umm Muhammad Abu Khousa said her son was among those wounded near the aid centre in Bureij.

"You feed me and then you kill me?" she said from her son's bedside.

Calling for an end to the war, she told AFP Gazans want "to live in freedom".

"We want our children to live as they were before, and for my son to go to school and come back home and find a plate of lentils."

Only limited amounts of aid have entered Gaza since Israel eased its total blockade that began in March.

On Friday a spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency called Gaza "the hungriest place on earth".

GHF, which employs contracted US security, said Sunday that it had distributed more than 4.7 million meals' worth of food so far.

The United Nations and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the organisation, saying it contravened basic humanitarian principles and appeared designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.

- Truce offer -

Nearly 20 months into the war, negotiations for a ceasefire and a deal to free the hostages held by militants have failed to produce a breakthrough.

Since the last brief truce collapsed in March, Israel has intensified its operations to destroy Hamas, the Palestinian group whose October 7, 2023 attack triggered the war.

Hamas said Saturday it had responded positively to the latest US-backed truce proposal, but US envoy Steve Witkoff criticised the response as "totally unacceptable", an assessment echoed by Israel.

Senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mardawi said Sunday that the "amendments we requested are identical... to what had been previously agreed upon with the American mediator".

Witkoff earlier urged the group to "accept the framework proposal we put forward", which he called the "only way" to seal a 60-day ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange, and bring about talks on a permanent ceasefire.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says at least 4,149 people have been killed in the territory since Israel resumed its offensive on March 18, taking the war's overall toll to 54,418, mostly civilians.

Hamas's 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

B.AbuZeid--SF-PST