Gaza civil defense: 36 killed by Israeli forces, six near aid center

Gaza's civil defense agency said on Saturday that Israeli forces had killed at least 36 Palestinians, six of them in a shooting near a U.S.-backed aid distribution center.

The Israeli military told AFP that troops had fired "warning shots" at individuals it said were "advancing in a way that endangered the troops."

The shooting deaths were the latest reported near the aid center run by the Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) in the southern district of Rafah. They came after the center resumed distributions following a brief suspension earlier this week due to similar incidents.

Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that at around 7:00 a.m., "six people were killed and several others wounded by the forces of the Israeli occupation near the Al-Alam roundabout," where they had gathered to seek humanitarian aid from the distribution center about a kilometer away.

The GHF said in a statement that it had not distributed aid on Saturday because of "direct threats" from Hamas.

Later Saturday, the Israeli army said an operation in Gaza City resulted in the killing of Asaad Abu Sharia, reportedly the head of the Mujahideen Brigades, a group close to Hamas ally Islamic Jihad. Israel has also accused the group of involvement in the deaths of hostages taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz near the border.

The Israeli military has stepped up operations in Gaza in recent weeks in what it says is a renewed push to defeat Hamas.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Saturday that the overall death toll from the war had reached 54,772, the majority of them civilians. The UN considers these figures reliable.

(With input from AFP)