More than 30 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire on Sunday as they went to receive food at an aid distribution point set up by an Israeli-backed foundation in Gaza, according to witnesses,, with a hospital run by the Red Cross confirming it was treating many wounded.

Witnesses told the Guardian that Israeli forces had opened fire as they headed toward the aid distribution site in Rafah run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

“My brother went to receive aid from the American distribution points in Rafah, when the bullets started raining down on them,” Yarin Abu Al-Naja, 44, told the Guardian. ‘‘The Israeli soldiers had started shooting at the people there. My brother went with two of his friends. One of them was critically injured in the head, the other was killed, and my brother was shot in the back.

‘‘He was transported to the hospital by a donkey cart – no ambulances can reach the area, and there were dozens of injured and dead,” Al-Naja added. “We saw him placed on the ground. There were no available beds due to the large number of casualties and dead arriving from the same location. The scenes were horrific – people missing limbs, hands or legs, others decapitated, or with open abdomens.’’

Media reports said dozens of people were being treated at the hospital after the latest incident at the controversial site in Rafah. Officials at the field hospital did not say who opened fire but added that another 175 people were wounded.

The local Palestinian Red Crescent, affiliated with the international Red Cross, said its medical teams had recovered the bodies of 23 Palestinians and treated another 23 injured near an aid collection site in Rafah. Local health authorities said at least 31 bodies had so far arrived at Nasser hospital.

The Red Crescent also reported that a further 14 Palestinians were injured near a separate aid distribution site in central Gaza.

The Israel Defense Forces said they were “currently unaware” of injuries caused by their fire at the aid site, but that they were looking into it. The foundation claimed in a statement that it delivered aid “without incident” early on Sunday and has denied previous accounts of chaos and gunfire around its sites, which are in Israeli military zones where independent access is limited.

Israeli forces had given orders that no one should approach the hub before 6am. Multiple witnesses told the Guardian people had begun lining up from 5am, and dozens are said to have surged forward and started running towards it. When the crowds reached the Flag Roundabout, about 1km away, Israeli forces started shooting at the crowd, witnesses said.

“I went with my brother Shuhada to get food for our children,’’ Hani Baraka, 43, said. ‘‘The area was very crowded. At the start, a quadcopter drone came and gave orders, saying it was still too early to open the gates and that they would open them at 6am. It seems people moved forward earlier than the time set by the army. The soldiers panicked and began firing at the crowd. My brother was shot in the head and killed instantly.”

“On its way back, the drone hit a hanging wire and fell to the ground,” Baraka added. “People rushed toward it, and then the Israeli soldiers opened fire on us. Army snipers surrounded the area and started shooting at the crowd.”

The GHF has hired private security firms, but according to witnesses, the private contractors did not open fire on the crowd.

“Inside the gate, there were armed American soldiers, but they did not fire at us,” Baraka said. “They only threw plastic stun grenades in the square to scare people and clear the area once the aid ran out.”

Reuters footage showed ambulance vehicles carrying injured people to Nasser hospital. Other clips emerged showing people running and ducking, with apparent gunfire audible in the background. One piece of footage seems to have been filmed in the Salah al-Din Road, just south of aid distribution site in the Netzarim corridor.

Doctors at the Nasser hospital reported chaotic scenes, with dozens of bodies being brought in.

“The situation in the hospital is catastrophic, due to the massacre of the hungry in Rafah city, near the aid distribution centre,” Dr Marwan Al-Hams, 53, who is currently working in the emergency department at Nasser hospital, said. “Most injuries were shot in the upper parts of the body – the head, chest, and abdomen – as the Israeli army was reportedly firing from high altitudes using aircraft or quadcopters. A witness on the scene said that shots were also fired from a crane and from tanks.”

The hub is part of a controversial new aid system.

On 28 May, Hamas accused Israel of killing at least three Palestinians and wounding 46 near one of the GHF’s distribution sites, an accusation the group denied. The Israeli military said its troops fired warning shots in the area outside the compound to re-establish control as thousands of Palestinians rushed to an aid distribution site.

Israel imposed a blockade on all supplies in March, saying Hamas was seizing deliveries for its fighters, which the group denies. Earlier this month, a global hunger monitor said half a million people in the strip faced starvation.

The IPC estimated that nearly 71,000 children under the age of five were expected to be “acutely malnourished”, with 14,100 cases expected to be severe in the next 11 months.

The UN and other humanitarian organisations have rejected the new system for food distribution, saying it would not be able to meet the needs of Gaza’s 2.3 million people and allowed Israel to use food as a weapon to control the population. They have also said there was a risk of friction between Israeli troops and hungry people seeking supplies.

The latest incident took place as Hamas and Israel exchanged blame over a faltering effort to secure a ceasefire.

Hamas said on Saturday it was seeking amendments to a U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal, but President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff rejected the group’s response as “totally unacceptable.”

Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report