Aid resumes in Rafah amid Gaza crisis

Palestinians were seen carrying aid packages in the southern city of Rafah, near a distribution point designated by a new U.S. mechanism to deliver aid.

As a trickle of aid has resumed, Israeli forces - now in control of wide areas of Gaza - have kept up their offensive, killing 3,901 Palestinians since a short ceasefire collapsed in mid-March, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Israel says its military operations target only Hamas-led militants and accuses them of using civilians for cover, which they deny.

The GHF, backed by Israel and its close ally, the United States, said it had distributed about 8,000 food boxes, equivalent to 462,000 meals, since Israel eased an 11-week-old blockade of the war-shattered Palestinian enclave last week.

The United Nations and other international aid groups have boycotted the foundation, which they say undermines the principle that humanitarian aid should be distributed independently of the parties to a conflict, based on need.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce dismissed criticism of the aid program as "complaints about style."

Israel says one advantage of the new aid system is the opportunity to screen recipients at designated sites to exclude anyone found to be connected with Hamas.

Palestinians in Gaza City gathered at a soup kitchen attempting to receive meals, with one man describing the difficulties he has encountered in finding food for his family.

Israel imposed the blockade at the beginning of March, saying supplies were being stolen by Hamas and used to entrench its control over Gaza. Hamas denies stealing aid and says it has protected aid trucks from looters.

After a slow and chaotic start to the new U.S.-backed aid system in Gaza, thousands of Palestinians have been arriving at distribution points, seeking desperately needed food despite scenes of disorder and fears of violence.