Israeli fire killed at least 50 people on Monday, nearly half of them near an aid distribution site run by the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the territory's Health Ministry said, as U.N. officials denounced Israeli-backed aid delivery methods.

At least 56 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces across the Gaza Strip since dawn on Monday, including 38 who were seeking aid.

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli troops killed 20 people waiting to collect food on Monday, in the latest deadly incident near a US-backed aid centre in the Palestinian territory's south.Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that "the (Israeli) occupation forces opened fire" near the Al-Alam roundabout in the southern city of Rafah,