News- Middle East: Israeli troops have shot dead at least seven starving Palestinians while they were waiting at a US-backed aid distribution site in the central parts of the besieged Gaza Strip.

The deadly incident occurred on Tuesday morning, when Israeli soldiers opened fire on starving people waiting for receiving food at an aid distribution site run by the so-called  Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in central Gaza, Quds News Network reported.

The shooting spree killed at least seven Palestinians and wounded at least 15 others near the Netzarim Corridor, it added, just a day after the Israeli military admitted that its soldiers “harmed” Palestinians seeking aid.

The US- and Israel-backed GHF system began distributing food packages in Gaza since its establishment at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution which the UN says is neither impartial nor neutral.

Figures by the Palestinian Health Ministry show that since the GHF started its operations in the war-torn territory, more than 580 aid seekers have been killed and over 4,216 others wounded.

Furthermore, 39 Palestinians have also been reported missing after heading to the GHF sites to secure food.

The report by Quds News Network added that Israeli mass killings of aid seekers in the vicinity of GHF aid sites have become a grim daily reality amid chaotic scenes, as desperate Palestinians are given only a narrow window to rush for food and are targeted by Israeli soldiers.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, along with the UN, have already described these sites as “mass death traps” and “slaughterhouses.”

In a statement, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) also warned that “weaponizing aid in this manner may constitute crimes against humanity.”

“Every day Palestinians are met with carnage in their attempts to receive supplies from the insufficient amount of aid trickling into Gaza,” it said.

Palestinian resistance groups in a joint statement recently said the real aim behind the US aid distribution centers in Gaza is to dismantle the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, and destroy the Palestinian cause.

They also emphasized that the aid centers’ moves are aimed at accelerating the forced displacement, ethnic cleansing, and evacuation of the people and residents of Gaza as part of US President Donald Trump’s “criminal plans.”

The United Nations and other aid groups refuse to cooperate with the GHF system, saying it contravenes the humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality, and independence.

Source: Press TV