At least 34 Palestinians have been gunned down near Israeli-and US-supported food aid distribution centres in southern Gaza, its health ministry says, Al Jazeera reports.

The toll was the deadliest single-day total yet in the near-daily shootings as thousands of Palestinians move through Israeli military-controlled areas to reach the food centres run by the private contractor, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

Gaza’s Health Ministry said most of the dead were trying to reach the GHF centre near the southern city of Rafah although a few were on the roads to a newly opened hub on the outskirts of the nearby city of Khan Younis.

Two Palestinians trying to get food at the Rafah site, Heba Jouda and Mohammed Abed, said Israeli forces fired on crowds at about 4am at the Flag Roundabout — repeatedly the scene of mass shootings.