Gaza’s civil defence agency has said Israeli forces killed at least 72 people, including 21 who had gathered near aid distribution sites as famine looms after more than 20 months of conflict.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that six people were killed while waiting for aid in the southern Gaza Strip and 15 others in a central area known as the Netzarim corridor, where thousands of Palestinians have gathered daily in the hope of receiving food rations.