Gaza - Aid centers in hunger-wracked Gaza will temporarily close on Wednesday, a controversial US-backed agency said, with the Israeli army warning roads leading to distribution stations "are considered combat zones."

Israel killed 27 people in southern Gaza on Tuesday when its troops opened fire near one of the centers operated by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

Israel has slightly eased its blockade of the Palestinian enclave, but the UN has said the entire population remains at risk of famine.

The UN Security Council will vote Wednesday on a resolution calling for a ceasefire and humanitarian access to Gaza, a measure expected to be vetoed by the US.

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The GHF said its "distribution centers will be closed for renovation, reorganization and efficiency improvement work" on Wednesday and would resume operations on Thursday.

The Israeli army, which confirmed the temporary closure, warned against traveling "on roads leading to the distribution centers, which are considered combat zones."

The GHF, officially a private effort with opaque funding, began operations a week ago, but the UN and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with it over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.

Following Tuesday's deadly incident near one of GHF's centers, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres decried the killing of Palestinians seeking food aid as "unacceptable."

Israeli authorities and the GHF – which uses contracted US security – have denied allegations that the Israeli army shot at civilians rushing to pick up aid packages at GHF sites. The Israeli army has said the incident is under investigation.

At a hospital in southern Gaza, the family of Reem al-Akhras, who was killed in the shooting at Rafah's Al-Alam roundabout near GHF's facility, were beside themselves with grief.

"She went to bring us some food, and this is what happened to her," her son Zain Zidan said, his face streaked with tears.

Akhras's husband, Mohamed Zidan, said "every day unarmed people" were being killed.

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"This is not humanitarian aid – it's a trap," he added.

Israeli army spokesperson Effie Defrin said the Israeli soldiers had fired towards suspects who "were approaching in a way that endangered" the troops, adding that the "incident is being investigated."

UN human rights chief Volker Turk called such attacks against civilians "unconscionable" and said they "constitute a grave breach of international law and a war crime."

The International Committee of the Red Cross, meanwhile, said Gazans face an "unprecedented scale and frequency of recent mass casualty incidents."

Washington said Tuesday that a US-backed relief effort in Gaza was succeeding in distributing meals but acknowledged the potential for improvement after the reports of shootings near the GHF center.

A boat organized by an international activist coalition was, meanwhile, sailing toward Gaza, aiming to deliver aid.

The boat from the Freedom Flotilla Coalition departed Sicily Sunday carrying a dozen people, including environmental and human rights activist Greta Thunberg, along with fruit juices, milk, tinned food, and protein bars.

"Together, we can open a people's sea corridor to Gaza," the coalition said.

But Israel's military said Tuesday it was ready to "protect" the country's maritime space.

When asked about the Freedom Flotilla vessel, army spokesperson Defrin said "for this case as well, we are prepared," declining to go into detail.

The health ministry in Gaza said at least 4,240 people have been killed since Israel resumed its all-out assault on March 18, taking the overall toll to 54,510 – though the true number is believed to be far higher.

Apart from the aid center incident, the civil defense agency reported Israel had killed 19 more Palestinians in Gaza on Tuesday.