Palestinians trampled to death at food aid centre

AT LEAST 20 Palestinians have been killed at a food distribution centre run by an Israeli-backed American organisation in the Gaza Strip, mostly from being trampled, the group said.

- ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTERS

They were the first deaths reported at one of the group's sites, although hundreds have been killed by Israeli forces on the roads leading to them, according to witnesses and health officials.

Israeli strikes across Gaza killed at least 41 others, including 11 children, according to hospital officials.

The Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) accused the Hamas militant group of fomenting unrest at the food distribution centre, leading to a “dangerous surge”; but it provided no evidence to support the claim.

Witnesses said GHF guards threw stun grenades and used pepper spray on people pressing to get into the site before it opened, causing a panic in the narrow, fenced-in entrance.

Since the group's operations began in late May, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in shootings by Israeli soldiers while on roads heading to the sites.

GHF’s four sites are all in military-controlled zones, and the Israeli military has said its troops have only fired warning shots to control crowds.

Gaza’s more than two million Palestinians are living through a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, and the territory is teetering on the edge of famine, according to food security experts.

GHF said it believed that 19 of the dead died from trampling at its food distribution centre between the southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah and one was killed by a stabbing in the crowd.

The Gaza Health Ministry said 17 people suffocated at the site and three others were shot.

It was not clear if the shootings took place during the crush or earlier on the road to the centre. The witnesses did not report shots fired at the centre but said Israeli troops fired toward the crowds as they headed to it.