RAFAH, Palestinian Territories: Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli gunfire killed at least 31 Palestinians near a US-backed aid distribution site on Sunday, with the group in charge of the site denying any such incident took place.

Israel has faced growing condemnation over the humanitarian crisis in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, where the United Nations has warned the entire population faces the risk of famine after no aid was allowed to enter for more than two months.

Israel recently eased its blockade and introduced a revamped aid mechanism in cooperation with a newly formed US-backed organisation, bypassing the longstanding UN-led system.

The organisation, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), says it has distributed millions of meals since operations began last week, but the rollout has been marked by chaotic scenes at the limited number of distribution centres, as well as reports of casualties from Israeli fire nearby.