At least 19 die in crowd crush near Gaza aid distribution centre, says US and Israel-backed aid group
At least 19 people have been killed near an aid distribution site in Khan Younis, the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has said.
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The people were crushed and one was stabbed in the swarm "driven by agitators in the crowd".
The group's statement read: "We have credible reason to believe that elements within the crowd - armed and affiliated with Hamas - deliberately fomented the unrest,
"For the first time since operations began, GHF personnel identified multiple firearms in the crowd, one of which was confiscated.
"An American worker was also threatened with a firearm by a member of the crowd during the incident."
Read more: At least 789 people killed while receiving aid in Gaza, UN human rights office says
Read more: 10 children queuing for nutritional supplements killed in Israeli strike in Gaza, hospital says
Last week, a spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said that more than 600 people have been killed "in the vicinity" of aid sites run by the GHF.
The GHF has rejected these figures, branding them “misleading.”
But its statement today marks a rare acknowledge of the chaos at its distribution sites.
It started distributing food packages in Gaza in May, following the lifting of Israel's 11-week blockade on aid deliveries.
The group operates four distribution centres, three of which are located in the southern Gaza Strip.
Private security contractors guard the sites, which in zones operated by the Israeli military.
Palestinian witnesses claim Israeli forces have repeatedly shot at crowds of people attending the sites to receive aid.
Israel has denied these claims, usually made by doctors on the ground, claiming it has only ever fired “warning shots.”
A GHF spokesperson said: "The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys."
Also last week, at least 10 children were among the 15 Palestinians killed in an Israeli strike close to a medical point in central Gaza on Thursday, local doctors reported.
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said the strike hit people queuing for nutritional supplements in the town of Deir al-Balah.
Graphic footage from the hospital showed the bodies of several children and others being treated for injuries.
Israel's offensive in Gaza has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's health ministry.