GAZA/UNITED NATIONS - At least 40 Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire and shelling across the Gaza Strip on Friday, Palestinian sources said.

Eyewitnesses said that Israeli forces opened fire on thousands of civilians waiting for food near a US-backed aid distribution center, north of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.

According to medics from Nasser Hospital in the southern Khan Younis city, seven Palestinians were killed and dozens of others injured in the attack, some of whom were in serious conditions.

In a separate incident, another Palestinian was killed and 39 others injured after the Israeli army opened fire on people waiting for aid in central Gaza, Nuseirat's al-Awda Hospital reported in a statement.

Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Civil Defense, also reported at least 32 deaths across the enclave due to Israeli airstrikes and shellings.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army on these incidents.

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Meanwhile, Hamas on Friday called on the United Nations to establish an international committee to investigate the killing of Palestinians by Israeli army fire outside US-backed aid distribution centers in the Gaza Strip.

The faction considered the move "a blatant crime and further evidence of the brutality of the occupation (Israel) and its leaders," urging for the resumption of aid distribution operated by the United Nations and international humanitarian organizations.

Four more relief workers killed in Gaza

Also on Friday, UN humanitarians said that amid "draconian constraints" on UN-led aid operations in Gaza's dire situation, four more relief workers were reportedly killed.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said it "continues to warn of the dire conditions on the ground in the Gaza Strip amid ongoing hostilities, dwindling supplies, and draconian constraints on the UN and its humanitarian partners' ability to operate."

OCHA said that as airstrikes continued across Gaza, four more aid workers were reportedly killed over the past 24 hours, three in southern Gaza and one in the north. And aid entering Gaza is a mere trickle of what is needed to address the immense humanitarian needs of more than 2 million people.

"The UN reiterates that to address hunger and curb starvation, the unrestricted flow of essential supplies into Gaza must be enabled over a sustained period of time," OCHA said. "Moreover, humanitarians must be allowed to deliver aid safely and efficiently, through multiple crossing points and via all available corridors."

OCHA said that under international humanitarian law, civilians, aid workers, medical staff and medical facilities must be protected.

Palestinians have reportedly been targeted in recent weeks while waiting for food aid in various areas of the Gaza Strip, home to more than 2 million people, sparking widespread international condemnation.

On March 18, Israel resumed its military operations in the enclave. At least 6,008 Palestinians had been killed and 20,591 others injured since Israel renewed its intensive strikes, bringing the total death toll since October 2023 to 56,331, and injuries to 132,632, Gaza-based health authorities said on Friday.