The Palestinians were shot and scores wounded as huge crowds assembled to try and get food from a new aid distribution center. An Israeli military official said soldiers fired warning shots.

More than 30 Palestinians were killed and nearly 170 injured on Sunday (June 1) in south Gaza near a food distribution site, the health ministry said, as witnesses reported Israeli soldiers fired on people trying to collect aid and Israel denied it.

Over 170 others were wounded on the way to a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution point in Rafah in the deadliest incident tied to a new U.S.-backed aid mechanism.