One witness said Israeli forces opened fire indiscriminately at Palestinians seeking food aid near a hub operated by the U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

Israeli forces on Saturday opened fire on Palestinians seeking food aid in the besieged Gaza Strip, killing more than 30 people as the manufactured hunger emergency in the enclave intensifies.

The Associated Press reported that the massacre “occurred near hubs operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,” which the United Nations and aid organizations have described as death traps.

GHF, a private entity backed by the U.S. and Israel, attempted to distance itself from Saturday’s killings, saying in a statement that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) shooting took place “hours before our sites opened.”

But CNN noted that Gazans have said they “have to travel to distribution points several hours before they open to have a chance of receiving aid.”

One witness, Mahmoud Mokeimar, said he was traveling with a large number of people toward the GHF aid hub in Khan Younis early Saturday morning when Israeli forces “opened fire at us indiscriminately.”

The entire population of the Gaza Strip is in the grip of an increasingly devastating hunger crisis under Israel’s blockade, pushing the enclave’s desperate residents to travel to the GHF aid sites in the hope of obtaining food—even if it means risking their lives.

“Bread is what drives me to risk death. There’s no alternative,” said one Palestinian man who was recently shot in the leg by Israeli forces. “Has the world failed to provide a safe channel for aid delivery?”

The U.N. Human Rights Office estimates that Israeli forces have killed more than 870 Palestinians seeking food aid since late May.

The World Food Program said Friday that nearly a third of Gazans are “not eating for days at a time” and “thousands of people are on the verge of catastrophic hunger.”

“WFP continues to call for an immediate and sustained cease-fire, and safe, unhindered access to reach all those in need,” the organization added.

The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) echoed that call on Saturday, writing on social media that it “has enough food for the entire population of Gaza for over three months stockpiled in warehouses—including this one in Al Arish, Egypt–awaiting entry.”

“The supplies are available,” UNRWA said. “The systems are in place. Open the gates, lift the siege, allow UNRWA to do its work and help people in need, among them 1 million children.”

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  civilians, death, food, gaza, hunger, israel, sho0oting, soldiers