Israel charged on Thursday that Hamas was "weaponising suffering in Gaza" after a US and Israeli-backed charity accused the Palestinian group of killing eight of its aid workers in the territory.
The distribution of food and basic supplies in the blockaded and war-ravaged Gaza has become increasingly fraught and perilous, exacerbating the territory's deep hunger crisis.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said a bus carrying its staff to a distribution site near the southern city of Khan Yunis was "brutally attacked by Hamas" around 10:00 pm (1900 GMT) on Wednesday.
The GHF said: "As of now, we can confirm at least eight fatalities, multiple injuries, and we fear that some of our team members have been taken hostage."
Israel's foreign ministry said "Hamas is weaponising suffering in Gaza — denying food, targeting lifesavers and forsaking its own people".
Asked to respond to the GHF accusation, the Hamas government media office in Gaza said GHF was a "filthy tool" of Israeli forces and was being used to "lure civilians into death traps".
It did not comment on the GHF's accusation.
Dozens of Palestinians have been killed while trying to reach GHF distribution points since they began operating in late May, according to Gaza's civil defence agency.
The agency said another 21 people were killed while waiting for aid on Thursday, adding they were among 29 people across the territory who were killed by Israeli fire.
Contacted by AFP about reports of a deadly incident near an aid distribution point close to the Netzarim corridor in central Gaza, the Israeli military said it had "conducted warning shots... hundreds of metres (yards) from the aid distribution site, prior to its opening hours."
Israeli restrictions on media in Gaza and the difficulties of access on the ground mean AFP is unable to independently verify the casualty tolls provided by the civil defence agency or the deaths reported by the GHF.
Gaza medics have said hospitals are being inundated with people wounded while trying to obtain food.
At Gaza City's Al-Shifa Hospital on Wednesday, the emergency department said it had received dozens of people who had been killed or wounded while waiting for aid in recent days, including 200 in a single day.
"Many Gazans went to the Nabulsi and Netzarim areas to receive aid and were shot at and shelled with tanks," said Mutaz Harara, head of Al-Shifa's emergency department.
Meanwhile, Israel's foreign ministry said six people detained aboard a boat attempting to breach Israel's Gaza blockade were put in a plane for deportation Thursday afternoon.
They included European parliamentarian Rima Hassan, it said.
"Bye-bye — and don't forget to take a selfie before you leave," the ministry wrote on X.
Egyptian authorities meanwhile detained more than 200 pro-Palestinian activists in Cairo ahead of a planned march to the Gaza border, the organisers said.
Egypt said while it backs efforts to put "pressure on Israel" to lift its Gaza blockade, any foreign delegations seeking to visit the border area must obtain prior approval.
The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
Israel said late on Wednesday that its forces had retrieved the bodies of two hostages from southern Gaza.
Prior to the latest announcement, out of 251 taken hostage during the Hamas attack, 54 were still held in Gaza, including 32 the Israeli military has said are dead.
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