Israeli attack near aid delivery point kills 31 in Gaza, truce talks falter

An Israeli attack near an aid distribution point run by a private US-based group killed at least 31 people in Gaza on Sunday, local health authorities said, as Hamas and Israel exchanged blame over a faltering effort to secure a ceasefire.

The incident in Rafah in the south of the enclave was the latest in a series underscoring the volatile security situation that has complicated aid delivery to Gaza, following the easing of an almost three-month Israeli blockade last month.

"There are martyrs and injuries. Many injuries. It is a tragic situation in this place. I advise them that nobody goes to aid delivery points. Enough,” paramedic Abu Tareq said at Nasser Hospital in nearby Khan Younis city.

The Palestinian Red Crescent, affiliated with the international Red Cross, said its medical teams had recovered bodies of 23 Palestinians and treated another 23 injured near an aid collection site in Rafah. The US-based Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) operates the aid distribution sites in Rafah.

The Red Crescent also reported that 14 more Palestinians were injured near a separate site in central Gaza. GHF also operates the aid distribution site in central Gaza.

Earlier, the Palestinian news agency WAFA and Hamas-affiliated media put the number of deaths at 30. Local health authorities said at least 31 bodies had so far arrived at Nasser Hospital.

Israel's military said in a statement it was looking into reports that Palestinians had been shot at an aid distribution site but it was unaware of injuries caused by military fire. GHF denied anyone was killed or injured near their site in Rafah and that all of its distribution had taken place without incident.

The US company accused Hamas of fabricating "fake reports".

Residents and medics said Israeli soldiers fired from the ground at a crane nearby that overlooks the area, and a tank opened fire at thousands of people who were en route to get aid from the site in Rafah. Reuters footage showed ambulance vehicles carrying injured people to Nasser Hospital.

The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said Israel has turned the distribution sites into "death traps" for people seeking aid.

"We affirm to the world that what is taking place is a deliberate and malicious use of aid as a 'weapon of war', employed to exploit starving civilians and forcibly gather them at exposed killing zones, which are managed and monitored by the Israeli military," it said.

Reda Abu Jazar said her brother was killed as he waited to collect food at an aid distribution centre in Rafah. "Let them stop these massacres, stop this genocide. They are killing us," she said, as Palestinian men gathered for funeral prayers. Arafat Siyam said that his brother had left at 11:00 p.m. the previous evening to collect food for his wife and eight children from the same distribution site in Rafah, south Gaza. Siyam accused the Israeli military of killing his brother. "This is unfair. What they are doing is unfair," he said.

GHF is backed by the US and Israeli governments that provides humanitarian aid in Gaza, bypassing traditional relief groups. It began work in Gaza last month and has three sites from where thousands have collected aid.

GHF has been widely criticised by the international community, with UN officials saying its aid plans would only foment forced relocation of Palestinians and more violence.

The group's executive director resigned in May, citing what he said was the entity’s lack of independence and neutrality. It is not clear who is funding the company.

Israeli officials have said that Palestinians collecting aid would be screened to exclude anyone linked to Hamas.

CEASEFIRE TALKS FALTER

Sunday's incident happened as Israel and Hamas traded blame for the faltering of a new Arab and US mediation bid to secure a temporary ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza by Hamas, in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli jails.

Hamas said on Saturday it was seeking amendments to a US-backed ceasefire proposal, but President Donald Trump's envoy rejected the group's response as "totally unacceptable".

Hamas said it was willing to release 10 living hostages and hand over the bodies of 18 dead in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. But Hamas reiterated demands for an end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, conditions Israel has rejected.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his government had agreed to Witkoff's outline.

Israel began its offensive in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on communities in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli tallies, and saw 251 taken as hostages into Gaza.

Israel's campaign has devastated much of Gaza, killing over 54,000 Palestinians and destroying most buildings. Much of the population now live in shelters in makeshift camps. Gaza health officials report that most of the dead are civilians, though the number of militants killed remains unclear.