'A mechanism for killing' 15 people die in crush trying to access Gaza food aid site

At least 20 Palestinians have been killed in a crush at a food distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation after guards used teargas or pepper spray yesterday on hungry crowds, Palestinian health authorities and witnesses said.

- Emma Graham-Harrison, Sufian Taha, Jerusalem, Julian Borger

Nineteen people were crushed and one stabbed in a "chaotic, dangerous surge," GHF said of the incident near Khan Younis, in southern Gaza. The Gaza health ministry said 15 people were suffocated after teargas was fired at the crowd.

Dr Mohammed Zaqqout, the director of hospitals for Gaza, said: "All of the 15 arrived at the hospital already dead with obvious symptoms of lack of oxygen.

"You can see blue marks, vomit, blue lips, swelling faces - all symptoms of suffocation. We couldn't save any of the 15 we received."

The deaths, which Gaza health authorities said were the first "due to suffocation and severe stampedes," marked a grim milestone for Palestinians in a war where Israeli attacks have already killed more than 58,000 people, most of them civilians.

On Tuesday, 13 members of the same family, including seven children, were reported killed when an Israeli airstrike hit their home in eastern Gaza City.

Some of the victims were left to die under the rubble, as the Israeli military used drone strikes to prevent rescuers from approaching the scene for roughly eight hours, local rescue workers and family members told the Haaretz newspaper.