Israeli gunfire has killed at least 17 Palestinians and wounded dozens as thousands of displaced people approached an aid distribution site of a US-backed humanitarian group in central Gaza, local health authorities said, according to Reuters.

Medics has said the casualties were rushed at two hospitals, the Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza and Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City, to the north.

The Israeli military said its forces fired warning shots at “suspects who were advancing in the area of Wadi Gaza and posed a threat to the troops”.

It added that it was aware of reports that several were injured, but argued that numbers released by local health authorities did not align with the information they collected.

“The warning shots were fired hundreds of meters from the aid distribution site, prior to its opening hours and toward the suspects who posed a threat to the troops,” the military added.