Ahmed Abu Taha, who was among the thousands of people seeking food in Rafa, described to Al Jazeera the moment a crowd stormed into the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution centre by breaking fences.

He heard gunfire and saw Israeli military aircraft overhead. “It was chaos. People were panicked.”

Another Palestinian, Saleh Abu Najjar, said he heard a tank firing from a distance. “The situation was very dangerous and people were frightened,” Al Jazeera quoted him as saying.

In a statement, the GHF said that because of the large number of Palestinians seeking aid, staff at the hub followed safety protocols and “fell back”.