Thirty-one people have been killed and more than 150 injured by Israeli tanks and gunfire near an aid distribution centre in Rafah, southern Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry and medics say.
Medical staff at Nasser Hospital said many patients brought from the scene had been hit by gunfire.
The Israel Defence Forces said it was “currently unaware of injuries caused by IDF fire within” the aid site. “The matter is still under review.”
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which runs the centre, said the reports were “false” and spread by Hamas. It said it distributed 16 truckloads of food on Sunday morning “without incident”, saying there were “no injuries or fatalities”.
“We have heard that these fake reports have been actively fomented by Hamas. They are untrue and fabricated,” it said.
Local journalists and activists shared footage of bodies and wounded people being transported on donkey carts to the Red Cross field hospital in the al-Mawasi area.
The BBC is examining footage of bodies being carried on carts and in the back of lorries to Nasser Hospital.
Gaza’s health ministry said more than 200 cases had arrived at hospitals, including 31 dead.
Seventy-nine of the injured were brought to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, according to the emergency department, medical staff from British charity Medical Aid for Palestinians reported.
Those killed and injured “were primarily struck by live gunfire, with many victims sustaining direct shots to the head or chest”, the charity’s staff said.
Victoria Rose, a British surgeon who has been working at Nasser Hospital, recorded a video mid-morning in which she motions to the beds with patients behind her and says “all the bays are full and they’re all gunshot wounds”.
Mohammed Ghareeb, a journalist in Rafah, told the BBC Palestinians had gathered near the aid centre run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) when Israeli tanks approached and opened fire on the crowd.
Mr Ghareeb said the crowd of Palestinians were near Al-Alam roundabout around 04:30 local time (02:30 BST), close to the aid centre run by GHF, shortly before Israeli tanks appeared and opened fire.
“The dead and wounded lay on the ground for a long time,” he said.
“Rescue crews could not access the area, which is under Israeli control. This forced residents to use donkey carts to transport victims to the field hospital.”
Mahmud Bassal, a spokesman for Gaza’s main emergency service the Civil Defence, told AFP news agency that more than 100 people were wounded “due to gunfire from Israeli vehicles towards thousands of citizens”.
The incident underscores the dire humanitarian conditions in Rafah, where recent Israeli military operations have severely limited access to aid and emergency services.
On Saturday, crowds of civilians rushed aid trucks in Gaza, the World Food Programme has said, as hunger and desperation create chaotic scenes.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is a new US and Israel-backed organisation that has been distributing food at designated sites across Gaza. Israel set up the plan after accusing Hamas of stealing aid, which the group denies.
The GHF said it had distributed 4.7 million meals this week, which the BBC has not been able to independently verify.
This comes as the US attempts to broker a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
Hamas responded to the US ceasefire proposal on Saturday by saying it is prepared to release 10 living Israeli hostages and 18 dead hostages in exchange for a number of Palestinian prisoners.
However, the group also repeated its demands for a permanent truce, a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and guarantees for the continuous flow of humanitarian aid. None of these are in the deal on the table.
Hamas said it had submitted its response to the US draft proposed by Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East.
Witkoff said the proposal was “unacceptable and only takes us backward” and insisted the US deal was “the only way we can close a 60-day ceasefire deal in the coming days.”
