Gaza - Gaza's civil defense agency said that Israeli fire killed 10 aid seekers on Friday, as a hospital director in the south warned of an influx of patients with acute malnutrition.

Israel's assault on Gaza has created dire humanitarian conditions for the population of more than two million, triggering severe shortages of food and other essentials.

Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said that Israeli fire killed nine people "near the US aid center in the Al-Shakoush area, northwest of Rafah city in southern Gaza" on Friday.

Joke of the Day Joke of the Day for July 16, 2025: A joke to make you laugh

Joke of the Day Joke of the Day for July 18, 2025: A funny joke to make you laugh

The controversial US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began operations in late May as Israel eased a two-month total aid blockade that had sparked warnings of famine.

After weeks of chaotic scenes and near-daily reports of Palestinians being killed nearby while waiting to collect rations, GHF acknowledged that 20 people died in a crush at one of its aid points in southern Gaza on Wednesday.

Bassal also reported "one martyr and eight injuries as a result of Israeli gunfire at civilians gathered near an aid distribution point close to the Netzarim corridor, south of Gaza City," on Friday.

The Israeli military said it was "not aware" of the incident near Rafah when contacted by AFP.

On Tuesday, the UN said it had recorded 875 people killed while trying to get food since late May, including 674 "in the vicinity of GHF sites".

Sohaib Al-Hums, a medical doctor and director of the Kuwaiti Field Hospital in the Al-Mawasi area of Khan Yunis in the south, on Friday warned the medical facility was "witnessing an unprecedented influx of displaced persons".

"We are receiving cases suffering from extreme exhaustion and complete fatigue, in addition to severe emaciation and acute malnutrition due to prolonged lack of food," he said in a statement.

"We warn that hundreds whose bodies have completely wasted away are now facing imminent death, as their physical endurance has been surpassed," he added.

The medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned last week that its teams in Gaza were seeing surging levels of acute malnutrition and that levels had reached an "all-time high" at two of its facilities in the territory.