At least 27 Palestinians killed near Gaza aid site: UN demands investigation
At least 27 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded by Israeli fire near a food distribution site in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, health officials said, in a third day running of chaos and bloodshed to blight the aid operation.
The Israeli military said its forces had opened fire on a group of people who had left designated access routes near the distribution centre in Rafah and approached their positions.
It added it was still investigating what had happened. The deaths came hours after Israel said three of its soldiers had been killed in fighting in the northern Gaza Strip, as its forces pushed ahead with a months-long offensive against Hamas militants that has laid waste to much of the enclave.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports in northern and southern Gaza.
A spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross told Reuters that its field hospital in Rafah had received 184 casualties, adding that 19 of those were declared dead upon arrival, and eight died of their wounds shortly after.
Video showed injured people, including at least one woman, being rushed to a medical centre on carts drawn by donkeys, before being transferred onto stretchers or into ambulances.
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