Rafah, Gaza - Israeli forces committed yet another massacre of starving Palestinians gathering to receive aid at a distribution center run by a US-backed organization in Gaza, killing at least 27 people on Tuesday.

The UN human rights chief condemned such attacks as a "breach of international law and a war crime," after a similar shooting in Rafah on Sunday killed and wounded scores of Palestinians.

"Twenty-seven people were killed and more than 90 injured in the massacre targeting civilians who were waiting for American aid in the Al-Alam area of Rafah," said civil defense spokesperson Mahmud Bassal, who earlier told AFP the deaths occurred "when Israeli forces opened fire with tanks and drones".

The Al-Alam roundabout is a little over half a mile from an aid center run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a shadowy a group that Israel has worked with to weaponize aid distribution in the territory, according to experts.

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The UN and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF, saying it contravenes humanitarian principles and appears designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.

Israel justified its latest act of mass killing by saying a crowd was moving towards the aid center when troops saw them "deviating from the designated access routes."

Rania al-Astal, 30, said she had gone to the area with her husband to try to get food.

"The shooting began intermittently around 5:00 AM. Every time people approached Al-Alam roundabout, they were fired upon," she told AFP. "But people didn't care and rushed forward all at once – that's when the army began firing heavily."

Mohammed al-Shaer, 44, said the crowd had just set off towards the aid center when "suddenly, the Israeli army fired shots into the air, then began shooting directly at the people".

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"A helicopter and quadcopters (drones) started firing at the crowd to prevent them from approaching the tank barrier. There were injuries and deaths," he told AFP. "I didn't reach the centre, and we didn't get any food."

GHF claimed the operations at its site went ahead safely on Tuesday, but added it was aware the military was "investigating whether a number of civilians were injured after moving beyond the designated safe corridor."

The shooting on Sunday had also taken place at the Al-Alam roundabout as people congregated before heading to the aid center, rescuers and witnesses said.

UN chief António Guterres urged an independent investigation into that shooting, calling it "unacceptable that Palestinians are risking their lives for food".

"Deadly attacks on distraught civilians trying to access the paltry amounts of food aid in Gaza are unconscionable," UN human rights chief Volker Turk said after Tuesday's deaths. "Attacks directed against civilians constitute a grave breach of international law and a war crime."

Israel is facing widespread accusations of crimes against humanity and genocide. Backed to the hilt by the US, it has destroyed every facet of Gaza's society, killed tens of thousands of civilians, and subjected the entire Palestinian population to unprecedented levels of starvation.