Gaza's civil defence agency and hospitals said Tuesday that Israeli forces killed at least 41 people across the territory, including 17 near an aid distribution centre.
The Israeli military has pressed on with its offensive even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced support for US President Donald Trump's plan to end the war.
Officials from Gaza's civil defence agency -- a rescue force operating under Hamas authority -- said 17 people were shot dead by Israeli forces near an aid distribution site near the Wadi Gaza bridge in central Gaza.
Al-Awda hospital confirmed receiving 17 bodies and said 33 people were wounded.
"We received 17 martyrs and 33 injured as a result of Israeli forces targeting gatherings of citizens near the humanitarian aid distribution area near Wadi Gaza Bridge in the central Gaza Strip," the hospital said in a statement.
Thousands of Palestinians congregate daily near food distribution points in Gaza, including those managed by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Since launching in late May, its operations have been marred by regular reports of Israeli forces firing on those waiting to collect aid.
An AFP journalist saw hundreds of children crowding a food distribution centre in Gaza's central Nuseirat area, where volunteers were handing out rice and other supplies.
When asked about Tuesday's incident near Wadi Gaza Bridge, the military said it was looking into it.
Israeli restrictions on the entry of aid supplies into Gaza since the start of the war nearly two years ago have led to shortages of food and essential items, including medicine and fuel, which hospitals require to power their generators.
The civil defence added that 15 more people were killed in several strikes in Gaza City, from where hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee due to Israeli air and ground assaults.
Nine others were killed elsewhere in the territory, it said.
Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing swathes of the territory mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence and the Israeli military.
Smoke rises from Gaza after an explosion, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, on Tuesday. REUTERS
Palestinians gather to receive food portions from a charity kitchen in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, on Tuesday. AFP
Displaced Palestinians, who fled northern Gaza after Israeli forces ordered residents of Gaza City to evacuate to the south amid an Israeli military operation, rest next to their belongings as they temporarily take shelter on a roadside, in the central Gaza Strip, on Tuesday. REUTERS
People walk past damaged buildings along a street in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday. AFP
Tents are pitched at a make-shift camp for people displaced by conflict in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday. AFP
People walk with humanitarian aid packages that they received from a distribution centre run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), at the so-called "Netzarim corridor", in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, on Tuesday. AFP
