The United Nations calls for the investigation of killings near the Gaza Aid website

The Secretary -General of the United Nations called for an independent investigation into the killing of the Palestinians near the relief distribution center in Gaza on Sunday, amid disputed reports that the Israeli forces had opened fire.

The witnesses reported that he was shot while waiting for food from the center in the United States and the Israeli -backed Gaza Foundation (GHF).

The Red Cross said that the hospital received 179 victims, 21 of whom died. The Hamas Civil Defense Agency has placed the death toll in 31.

On Sunday, the Israeli army denied its forces, which were called civilians near or inside the site and said that the reports in this sense were wrong.

GHF said that the reports were “an explicit manufacturing” and that it had not yet seen evidence of an attack on or near it.

Israel does not allow international news organizations, including the BBC, in Gaza, which makes verification of what is happening in the region is difficult.

“I feel dismay from the Palestinian dead and wounded reports while seeking assistance in Gaza yesterday,” the United Nations Secretary -General of Guterres said in a statement on Monday.

“I call for an immediate and independent investigation into these events and the perpetrators who will receive responsibility.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Israel responded by describing its comments as a “shame” in a post on X, and criticized it for not mentioning Hamas.

The Civil Defense Agency said that 31 people were killed and 176 wounded “after the Israeli fire targeted thousands of civilians near the American Aid Center in Rafah” early on Sunday morning.

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Red Cross Hospital received a “collective flow” of 179 cases, including women and children, at that time.

She said that the majority suffered from fireworks or fragments, and announced 21 dead upon arrival, adding, “All patients said they were trying to reach the aid distribution site.”

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said her teams in Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis also dealt with people with serious injuries, some of them were in critical condition.

He added that the patients “reported that they were shot from all sides by Israeli drones, helicopters, boats, tanks and soldiers”, and that the brother of an employee “was killed while trying to collect aid from the distribution center.”

A BBC journalist told a group of Palestinians who gathered near the flag roundabout in Rafah, near the GHF website, when the Israeli tanks approached and opened fire.

It seems that a video posted on the Internet on Sunday morning shows that it is covering the Palestinians in an open area of ​​sandy terrain, while it seems that it appears to be automatic weapons fire. However, the BBC was unable to check the site because there are not enough visible features.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) made a statement on Sunday afternoon that the initial investigation indicated its forces “did not shoot civilians while they were near or inside humanitarian distribution site, and that reports in this sense are wrong.”

A spokesman for Brigen Jin Evie Daverin accused Hamas of “spreading rumors” and “an explicit attempt and violence to prevent the people of Gaza from reaching these distribution centers.”

The Israeli Defense Army also released a drone video that he said showed armed men shooting civilians on their way to collect aid, although the BBC was unable to verify where or when it was filmed.

Later on Sunday, an Israeli military official informed correspondents that the soldiers acted to “prevent a number of suspects from approaching the forces” about one kilometer from the GHF website, before it was opened.

“The warning shots were launched,” the official said, before he insisted on the existence of “any link between the relevant incident and the wrong allegations against the Israeli Defense Army.”

GHF said in a statement on Monday that the reports were “the most disturbing in terms of explicit manufacturing and wrong information that is fed to the international media community.

“There were no injuries, deaths or accidents during our operations yesterday.

The American ambassador to Israel, Mike Hakapi, accused major news means of “reckless and responsible reports” in this regard.

He said on Monday: “I showed a drone and direct accounts that there were no injuries, deaths, no shooting, and no chaos.”

He added: “The only source of these misleading, exaggerated and manufactured stories came from Hamas sources, which were designed to deal with anti -Semitic hate fires that can be said to contribute to violence against Jews in the United States.”

Meanwhile, on Monday, health officials and local media reported that three other Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire near the GHF center itself in the Tal Al Sultan area in Rafah.

A Red Cross spokesman told Associated Press that her field hospital in Rafah received 50 people wounded, most of whom were wounded in gunshots and shrapnel, including the death of two advertisers upon his arrival, while Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis said that it was receiving a third body.

The Israeli army said in a statement that “the warning shots were fired towards many suspects who advanced” about one kilometer, one kilometer from the site, “the Israeli army said in a statement.

The army added that “he is familiar with reports related to losses, and the details of the accident are considered carefully,” the army added.

Also on Monday, the Civil Defense stated that 14 people, including six children and three women, were killed in an Israeli strike in a house in the northern town of Gabalia. He said that more than 20 others are believed to be missing under the rubble of the devastating building.

There was no immediate comment from the IDF, but he said in a statement that its aircraft had hit dozens of targets throughout Gaza during the past day, including “military structures belonging to terrorist organizations”, underground tunnels, and arms stores.

Israel imposed a totally siege on Gaza on March 2 and resumed its military attack two weeks later, and a two -month ceasefire collapsed with Hamas. She said that the steps were aiming to pressure the armed group to release 58 hostages, who were still detained in Gaza, and it is believed that at least 20 of them are alive.

On May 19, the Israeli army launched an extensive attack that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the forces “control all areas” in Gaza. The next day, he said that Israel would temporarily reduce the siege and allow a “basic” amount of food in Gaza.

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas attack across the border on October 7, 2023, where about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken into account.

At least 54,470 people have been killed in Gaza since then, including 4,201 since Israel resumed its attack, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health in the region.