Portugal Colonial - Rescuers say Israeli fire kills at least 27 near Gaza aid point

The UN human rights chief condemned such attacks as a "breach of international law and a war crime", after a similar shooting in the same area of southern Gaza on Sunday killed and wounded scores of Palestinians seeking aid, according to the civil defence agency.

Tuesday's shooting in the southern city of Rafah came as the agency reported 19 killed in other Israeli attacks in the territory, and as the Israeli army announced three soldiers had been killed in northern Gaza.

"Twenty-seven people were killed and more than 90 injured in the massacre targeting civilians who were waiting for American aid in the Al-Alam area of Rafah," said civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal, who earlier told AFP the deaths occurred "when Israeli forces opened fire with tanks and drones".

The Al-Alam roundabout is about a kilometre (a little over half a mile) from an aid centre run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a recently formed group that Israel has worked with to implement a new aid distribution mechanism in the territory.

The United Nations and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the group, saying it contravenes humanitarian principles and appears designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.

The military said a crowd was moving towards the aid centre when troops saw them "deviating from the designated access routes".

"The troops carried out warning fire, and after the suspects failed to retreat, additional shots were directed near a few individual suspects who advanced toward the troops," it said, adding it was "aware of reports regarding casualties" and was looking into the details.

Rania al-Astal, 30, said she had gone to the area with her husband to try to get food.

"The shooting began intermittently around 5:00 am. Every time people approached Al-Alam roundabout, they were fired upon," she told AFP.

"But people didn't care and rushed forward all at once -- that's when the army began firing heavily."

- 'Unacceptable' -

Mohammed al-Shaer, 44, said the crowd had just set off towards the aid centre when "suddenly, the Israeli army fired shots into the air, then began shooting directly at the people".

"A helicopter and quadcopters (drones) started firing at the crowd to prevent them from approaching the tank barrier. There were injuries and deaths," he told AFP.

"I didn't reach the centre, and we didn't get any food."

The army maintained it was "not preventing the arrival of Gazan civilians to the humanitarian aid distribution sites".

GHF said the operations at its site went ahead safely on Tuesday, but added it was aware the military was "investigating whether a number of civilians were injured after moving beyond the designated safe corridor".

"This was an area well beyond our secure distribution site and operations area," it added, advising "all civilians to remain in the safe corridor when travelling to our distribution sites".

The shooting on Sunday had also taken place at the Al-Alam roundabout as people congregated before heading to the aid centre, rescuers and witnesses said. The civil defence agency reported 31 people killed and 176 wounded.

Afterwards, the army denied firing at people "while they were near or within" the aid centre. But a military source acknowledged "warning shots were fired towards several suspects" about a kilometre from the site.

UN chief Antonio Guterres urged an independent investigation into that shooting, calling it "unacceptable that Palestinians are risking their lives for food".

"Deadly attacks on distraught civilians trying to access the paltry amounts of food aid in Gaza are unconscionable," UN human rights chief Volker Turk said after Tuesday's deaths.

"Attacks directed against civilians constitute a grave breach of international law and a war crime."

- Soldiers killed -

Israel has come under mounting pressure to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, where people are facing severe shortages of food and other essentials after Israel imposed a more than two-month blockade on supplies.

The blockade was recently eased, but the aid community has urged Israel to allow in more food, faster.

Israel has recently stepped up its offensive in what it says is a renewed push to defeat Hamas, whose October 2023 attack on Israel sparked the war.

The Israeli army said Tuesday that three of its soldiers had been killed during combat in northern Gaza, bringing the number of Israeli troops killed in the Palestinian territory since the start of the conflict to 424.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says at least 4,201 people have been killed in the territory since Israel resumed its offensive on March 18, taking the war's overall toll to 54,470, mostly civilians.

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

F.Ferraz--PC