ISRAELI forces had killed at least 118 Palestinians within the last 24 hours, including 45 who were attempting to obtain desperately needed humanitarian aid, hospitals and the Health Ministry said today.

Five people were killed while outside sites associated with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the recently created US and Israeli-backed organisation that has taken over delivery of aid to the Gaza Strip’s population, while 40 others were killed waiting for aid in other locations across the coastal enclave.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International issued a report accusing Israel and the GHF of having “militarised” the aid distribution system as a starvation tactic against Palestinians.

“Israel has continued to use starvation of civilians as a weapon of war against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip and to deliberately impose conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction as part of its ongoing genocide,” said the human rights organisation.

The Amnesty report also blasted Israel for having “turned aid-seeking into a booby trap for desperate starved Palestinians” through the militarised GHF hubs. The conditions have created “a deadly mix of hunger and disease pushing the population past breaking point,” it said.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry sought to discredit the report, asserting that Amnesty had “joined forces with Hamas and fully adopted all of its propaganda lies.”

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, more than 500 Palestinians have been killed at or near GHF distribution centres over the past month, including five in Khan Younis on Wednesday night and early today. 

The centres are guarded by private security contractors and located near Israeli military positions. Palestinian officials and witnesses have accused Israeli forces of opening fire on crowds of people moving near the sites.

Amnesty had previously accused Israel of committing genocide in a report last December. Israel has adamantly rejected the allegations and is challenging such claims at the International Court of Justice.

Dozens of people were killed in air raids that pounded the Gaza Strip on Wednesday night and this morning, including 15 killed in strikes that hit tents in the sprawling Muwasi zone, where many displaced Palestinians are sheltering. 

A separate strike on a school in Gaza City housing displaced people killed 15.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Israel had agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and urged Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen. 

Hamas said it would consult with its allies before giving its response.