For the third day running, Palestinians have been killed while gathering to collect aid. This morning, reports started to emerge of another fatal incident near an aid distribution centre in Gaza.

The Israeli military has confirmed shots were fired - unlike a similar incident reported in recent days which it denies - but added the full details are still being looked into.

Here's the latest:

• The Hamas-run health ministry has said at least 27 have been killed by Israeli fire close to an aid distribution point in Rafah
• A spokesperson from Gaza's Civil Defense Agency told the BBC that gunfire had come from tanks, helicopters and quadcopter drones at a point just over 1km from the aid centre
• The IDF said forces had carried out initial "warning fire" after having identified "suspects" near to the centre. Additional fire was carried out when they "failed to retreat", they said
• A similar incident was reported to have taken place on Sunday - but the details have been disputed. Gaza's civil defence agency said at least 31 were killed, the IDF said an initial inquiry showed forces had not fired at people near or within the aid centre
• The UN has suggested such attacks on civilians constitute a war crime
• It comes as a new initiative to distribute aid was launched in Gaza recently - with the UN warning the process shows "utter disregard for civilians"

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says 40 people have been killed and 208 injured in the past 24 hours across the enclave.

The latest figures bring the total number of people killed since 7 October 2023 to 54,510, and those injured to 124,901, according to the authority.

As we've reported, the ministry earlier said 27 people were killed by Israeli forces as they waited for aid in southern Gaza today. The number of people injured has increased to more 161, the ministry says in its latest update.

Reports of a deadly shooting near an aid distribution site in Gaza today follow disputed accounts of Israeli forces opening fire on people waiting to collect aid on Sunday.

Witnesses reported being shot at while waiting for food from the centre in Rafah run by the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The Red Cross reported 21 fatalities, while the Hamas-run Civil Defense Agency said 31 people had been killed.

The Israel Defense Forces denied its troops fired at civilians near or within the site. The GHF said the reports were "outright fabrications".

The denial was repeated again this morning by Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel, who accused the media of "spreading" Hamas "lies" during a combative exchange on BBC Radio 4's Today programme. She rejected the idea that targeting people collecting aid was a "daily routine".

(As a reminder, Israel does not allow international news organisations, including the BBC, into Gaza.)

Asked several times if Israel would agree to an independent investigation into the reported incident on Sunday - as called for by UN Secretary-General António Guterres - she said it "depends on the situation", before launching into accusations about the UN and the media's reporting on the Gaza war, including the BBC's.

"We will continue to oblige international law, as we do always, we will continue to complete full investigation[s] on any case even many propaganda cases that Hamas is showing and in certain cases where we do think there is need of an independent investigation we will do so as well," she adds.

You can listen back to Haskel's full exchange with Today's Anna Foster below:

Scenes of chaos have broken out at aid distribution centres run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) - a controversial US and Israeli-backed group that uses armed American security contractors - since it began operations after Israel eased an 11-week aid blockade on 19 May. Here's an overview of incidents reported over the last week.

27 May: Forty-seven people were injured when crowds overwhelmed an aid distribution centre run by the GHF, according to the UN Human Rights Office. The Hamas-run health ministry says one person was killed and 48 others were injured. An IDF spokesperson said troops fired "warning shots" into the air in the area outside the site in Rafah but did not fire towards people. The GHF says "no shots were fired at Palestinian crowds".

29 May: A witness who had gone to a GHF aid distribution centre near Rafah described scenes of chaos. A 60-year-old man at the site said aid supplies were more difficult for the elderly and vulnerable to obtain. People described similar scenes at an aid site in central Gaza, with a number telling the BBC they had come away empty-handed.

Meanwhile, the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) said two people had reportedly been killed and several others injured after "hordes of hungry people" broke into a food supply warehouse in central Gaza.

31 May: Crowds of civilians rushed aid trucks in Gaza, the World Food Programme said.

1 June: The Hamas-run civil defence agency in Gaza said at least 31 people were killed and many more wounded by "Israeli gunfire" near an aid distribution centre in Rafah. The Red Cross said its hospital received 179 casualties, 21 of whom were dead. The IDF said findings from an initial inquiry showed its forces had not fired at people while they were near or within the aid centre.

2 June: Gaza health officials and local media report that another three Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire near the same GHF centre in Rafah. The Israeli military said "warning shots were fired toward several suspects who advanced toward" troops approximately 1km (0.6 miles) from the site.

Today: The Hamas-run health ministry said at least 27 people have been killed and 90 injured by Israeli fire while waiting for aid distribution in Rafah, southern Gaza. The Israeli military says it fired shots near an aid complex after identifying "several suspects".

Image source, EPA

Attacks against civilians constitute a war crime, the UN's human rights chief says, as he calls for independent investigations into killings near aid distribution centres in Gaza in recent days.

Volker Türk says that for three days in a row people have been killed close to a US-Israeli backed food distribution centre, saying those responsible must be held to account.

Attacks on "civilians trying to access the paltry amounts of food aid in Gaza" are "unconscionable", he says in a statement, adding: "Attacks directed against civilians constitute a grave breach of international law, and a war crime."

"Palestinians have been presented the grimmest of choices: die from starvation or risk being killed while trying to access the meagre food that is being made available through Israel’s militarised humanitarian assistance mechanism," he says.

The "wilful impediment" of access to aid "may constitute a war crime", Türk says.

"The threat of starvation, together with 20 months of killing of civilians and destruction on a massive scale, repeated forced displacements, intolerable, dehumanising rhetoric and threats by Israel’s leadership to empty the Strip of its population, also constitute elements of the most serious crimes under international law," he says.

As our correspondent Barbara Plett Usher writes, aid in Gaza is now being distributed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) - a group backed by Israel and the US - via a process involving private contractors delivering aid via Israel-designated distribution sites.

The UN had previously been the main supplier of aid in Gaza.

Here are some images of Palestinians collecting aid from the GHF in the central Gaza Strip within the last week:

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Certain amount of chaos is built into new aid distribution systempublished at 10:22 British Summer Time 3 June

10:22 BST 3 June

Barbara Plett Usher
Reporting from Jerusalem

For the second time in three days, dozens of Palestinians have been killed while gathering to collect aid at a distribution hub. The deadly incidents raise questions about the design of a new private delivery system backed by the US and Israel.

The UN model is to take the aid to population centres – at 400 sites around the Gaza Strip. The new model – organised by the private Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and overseen by American security contractors – is based on big distribution centres to which Palestinians need to go.

These hubs are secured by the Israeli military so by design they are located behind the front line. That, at least, is the case with the one in southern Gaza where the shootings have happened.

This means thousands of hungry civilians are forced into close proximity to Israeli soldiers.

There is also a certain amount of chaos built into the system. The UN distributes aid based on a registry of the population, so everyone is guaranteed to get food. That doesn’t happen at the new distribution hubs.

Video issued by the GHF shows that boxes of food are stacked and Palestinians take what they can on a first come, first served basis.

This means they begin gathering shortly after midnight to secure a place at the front of the line, and race to the food supplies when the aid site opens hours later. All of which combines to create a volatile scenario in the middle of an ongoing war.

The Israeli military has released the names of three soldiers who it says died in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday.

The three men, in their early 20s, were part of the same battalion - two are described as "combat medics" the third a squad commander, according to an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) statement.

The Times of Israel reported earlier this morning that they were killed by an explosive device during operations in Jabalia.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an Israeli and US-backed group, says aid distribution "was conducted safely and without incident" at its site today.

The statement comes as Gaza's civil defence agency says Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians waiting to be granted access to an aid hub. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it fired shots near an aid complex after identifying "several suspects".

The latest update from the Hamas-run health ministry puts the death toll at 27, with 90 injured.

In a statement, the GHF says: "We understand that IDF is investigating whether a number of civilians were injured after moving beyond the designated safe corridor and into a closed military zone.

"This was an area well beyond our secure distribution site and operations area. We recognise the difficult nature of the situation and advise all civilians to remain in the safe corridor when traveling to our distribution sites".

Jeremy Bowen
International Editor

Image source, Reuters

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) claims it's giving out millions of meals, but there are questions over that because these need to be cooked and a lot of people don't have access to cooking facilities.

There is clearly a structural issue in the way that it's set up.

There are just one or two places - which the GHF says will be expanded - where thousands of people congregate, many of whom have walked for a very long time through the night to get there.

When Israeli forces see big concentrations of Palestinians, they see threat.

It seems absolutely clear that the IDF statement this morning, which makes it sound like a rather limited affair, is in direct contradiction to the information that the BBC and others are getting from the scenes in terms of witnesses who talk about a large amount of shooting going on.

I've had a message from a foreign medic working in the area, who says it has been "total carnage" since 03:48 local time (01:48 BST) this morning.

He says they have been overwhelmed with casualties.

Image source, Reuters

This morning's reports of fatalities close to an aid point being run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) - a newly created body backed by the US and Israel - follows a warning from the UN about the way aid is now being delivered.

It's roughly the same location where the Hamas-run health ministry says Israeli forces killed 31 people on Sunday, which Israel denies.

Speaking to the BBC World Service's Newshour programme last night, UN human rights chief Volker Türk said the way humanitarian aid is being delivered in the area was "dehumanising" and "unacceptable".

“It’s heartbreaking. I cannot believe that humanitarian aid is delivered in such circumstances. It’s unacceptable, it’s dehumanising and I really hope there is a rethinking of the whole absolute need to get humanitarian aid in quickly and not through the current system," he said.

“I think what it shows is utter disregard for civilians. Can you imagine people that have been absolutely desperate for food, for medicine, for almost three months, and then they have to run for it or try to get it in the most desperate circumstances," he added.

Israel set up the GHF as a way to bypass the UN as the main supplier of aid in Gaza, claiming an alternative was needed to stop Hamas stealing the aid.

We've just received an updated statement from the Hamas-run health ministry, saying at least 27 people were killed and 90 injured while waiting for aid in southern Gaza this morning.

Some of the injured are in a "critical condition", it adds.

Image source, Getty Images

The reports of casualties near an aid distribution site in southern Rafah come after disputed reports about a similar incident on Sunday.

Gaza's civil defence agency said at least 31 people were killed and many more wounded, which it blamed on "Israeli gunfire" targeting civilians in Rafah.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said its hospital in Rafah received "a mass casualty influx" of people early in the morning on Sunday. It said 21 people were "declared dead upon arrival". It is unclear if the number of people killed reported by the ICRC is separate to the Gaza authorities' report.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its findings from an initial inquiry showed its forces had not fired at people while they were near or within the aid centre.

The group that runs the aid distribution centre, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), also denied the claims of injuries and casualties at its site and said they had been spread by Hamas.

On Monday, health officials and local media reported that another three Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire near the same GHF centre.

The Israeli military said in a statement that "warning shots were fired toward several suspects who advanced toward" troops approximately 1km from the site.

Rushdi Abualouf
Gaza correspondent, reporting from Cairo

Those who arrive early have a better chance of securing a spot at the front of the line—and are therefore more likely to receive food.

Many who come at the official time announced by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation often find that no aid remains by the time they arrive.

According to several recipients, the quantity of aid parcels distributed daily by the foundation is far from sufficient to meet the overwhelming demand.

With thousands of people in desperate need, limited supplies simply cannot stretch far enough.

As a result, pushing forward—and even taking significant personal risks—becomes an understandable response, especially for individuals who have endured 12 weeks without reliable access to food.

The area where the recent deadly incident occurred is under full control of the Israeli military.

Eyewitnesses and survivors report that Israeli forces used excessive force against unarmed civilians who had gathered in search of aid.

Image source, Reuters

• A hospital director in the south of Gaza says 24 people have been killed and dozens injured by Israeli fire near an aid distribution centre in Rafah
• He says they have all been transported to the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, most with gunshot injuries

• Gaza's Civil Defense Agency says that the majority of those killed or injured were hit by fire from tanks, helicopters and quadcopter drones
• In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it fired shots after identifying "suspects" near an aid point
• It says it is aware of reports of casualties and is looking into the details of the incident
• Israel denied shooting Palestinians in a similar incident on Sunday, which the Hamas-run health ministry says killed 31 people and injured nearly 200

This is a developing story. Stay with us for further updates.

Rushdi Abualouf
Gaza correspondent, reporting from Cairo

Image source, Reuters

The director general of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis says 24 people have been killed and 37 wounded "as a result of Israeli forces opening fire on crowds of civilians" waiting for aid in Rafah.

He says they have all arrived at the hospital, most with gunshot injures.

As we've been reporting, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it fired shots after identifying "suspects" near an aid distribution site and it is aware of reports of casualties.

Rushdi Abualouf
Gaza correspondent, reporting from Cairo

Civil Defense Agency spokesman Mahmoud Bassal tells me that the majority of those killed or injured at the aid distribution centre in Rafah were hit by gunfire from tanks, helicopters and quadcopter drones.

According to Basal, the incident occurred a few hundred metres before the crowds even reached the al-Alam roundabout, which is located approximately 1km (0.6 miles) from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation Center, where they were heading to receive aid.

As we just reported, Gaza's civil defence agency says 19 people have been killed by Israeli fire while waiting at an aid distribution centre in Rafah.

The enclave's Hamas-run health ministry now says 24 people have been killed and dozens more injured.

The IDF says it is aware of reports of casualties and is looking into the details.

The Israeli military has released a statement saying its troops fired shots after identifying "suspects" around 0.5km (0.3 miles) from an aid distribution site.

It says its forces first carried out "warning fire", adding that "after the suspects failed to retreat, additional shots were directed near a few individual suspects who advanced toward the troops".

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it is aware of reports of causalities and "the details of the incident are being looked into".

Barbara Plett Usher
Reporting from Jerusalem

In the past few minutes, reports have started to emerge of another fatal incident near a distribution centre in Hamas-controlled Gaza.

Civil Defense Agency spokesman Mahmoud Bassal says Israeli troops killed 19 people, including a woman, about 1km (0.6 miles) away from the site located in the southern part of the enclave.

He says the Israelis opened fire with tanks and drones on thousands of Palestinians who had gathered near the al-Alam roundabout waiting to be granted access to the aid hub.

It’s roughly the same location as the shootings that occurred on Sunday, when the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said 31 people were killed and nearly 200 injured by Israeli fire.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) denied shooting Palestinians in that incident, but a military official acknowledged soldiers had fired warning shots at what he called suspects who were approaching them.

The IDF has not commented on today’s reported incident, but the BBC has requested a response.