U.S- backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says 20 people killed in stampede

Twenty Palestinians were killed on Wednesday at an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), in what the U.S.-backed group said was a crowd surge instigated by armed agitators.

The United Nations rights office says it has documented at least 875 deaths over the past six weeks near aid sites and convoys in Gaza, the majority of them near GHF distribution points.

The GHF, which is supported by Israel, said 19 people were trampled and one was fatally stabbed during the crush at one of its centres in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.


"We have credible reason to believe that elements within the crowd - armed and affiliated with Hamas - deliberately fomented the unrest," GHF said in a statement.

There was no immediate comment from Hamas.

Palestinian heath officials told Reuters at least 20 people had died of suffocation at the site. One medic said lots of people had been crammed into a small space and had been crushed.

The GHF, which began distributing food packages in late May after Israel lifted an 11-week blockade on humanitarian supplies, has previously rejected U.N. criticism, accusing it of spreading misinformation.

The U.N. has called the GHF's model "inherently unsafe" and a breach of humanitarian impartiality standards.

GHF operates outside the U.N.-coordinated aid system and uses private U.S. security and logistics contractors to deliver aid - an approach Israel says reduces the risk of Hamas looting, a charge the group denies.