OHCHR chief condemns Israeli killing of Palestinians seeking aid in Gaza

At least 45 Palestinians have been killed and dozens injured by Israeli forces while they were waiting for aid at the al-Tahlia Roundabout in Khan Younis on Monday, according to the Gaza health authority.

"Emergency, intensive care and operating rooms (at Nasser Medical Complex) are overcrowded with the large number of casualties and deaths," the authorities stated, as reported by Al Jazeera.

Prior to Monday's incident, the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip reported that at least 300 people had been killed and more than 2,600 wounded near aid distribution sites since the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began operations on May 26.

UN Human Rights Council High Commissioner Volker Türk condemned the "horrifying, unconscionable suffering" inflicted by Israel in Gaza.

Addressing the UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva on Monday, Volker Turk accused Israel of weaponizing food and reiterated his call for a full investigation into the attacks near the aid sites. UN agencies have refused to collaborate with the GHF.

Turk said: "Israel's means and methods of warfare are inflicting horrifying, unconscionable suffering on Palestinians in Gaza."

The Israel Defense Forces has previously acknowledged that its troops opened fire near aid sites.

"We are on an indefensible path of escalating conflict and open disregard for international human rights and humanitarian law," the council's website quoted Türk as saying.

Ahmed Fayad, who attempted to gather food at the GHF site at Al-Alam on Monday, described the operation as a "trap".

"We went there thinking we would get aid to feed our children, but it turned out to be a trap, a killing. I advise everyone: don't go there," he told Reuters.

Al-Alam has been the site of several similar deadly incidents since the new Israeli-backed food distribution system began.