59 more Palestinians trying to get food die, say medics

Israeli tanks fired into a crowd trying to get aid from trucks in Gaza on Tuesday, killing at least 59 people, according to medics, in one of the bloodiest incidents yet in mounting violence as desperate residents struggle for food.

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Video shared on social media showed around a dozen mangled bodies lying in a street in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military acknowledged firing in the area and said it was looking into the incident.

Witnesses interviewed by media said Israeli tanks had launched at least two shells at a crowd of thousands who had gathered on the main eastern road through Khan Younis in the hope of obtaining food from aid trucks that use the route.

"All of a sudden, they let us move forward and make everyone gather, and then shells started falling, tank shells," said Alaa, an eyewitness at Nasser Hospital, where wounded victims lay sprawled on the floor and in corridors due to the lack of space.

"No one is looking at these people with mercy. The people are dying, they are being torn apart, to get food for their children. Look at these people, all these people are torn to get flour to feed their children."

Palestinian medics said at least 59 people were killed and 221 wounded in the incident, at least 20 of them in critical condition.