HRW slams 'death trap' US-backed aid centres in Gaza

Human Rights Watch on Friday accused Israeli forces operating outside US-backed aid centres in war-torn Gaza of routinely killing Palestinian civilians seeking food, as well as using starvation as a weapon of war.

"US-backed Israeli forces and private contractors have put in place a flawed, militarised aid distribution system that has turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths," said Belkis Wille, associate crisis and conflict director at Human Rights Watch.

At least 859 Palestinians were killed while attempting to obtain aid at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites between 27 May and 31 July - most by the Israeli military - according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

"Israeli forces are not only deliberately starving Palestinian civilians, but they are now gunning them down almost every day as they desperately seek food for their families," Wille said in a statement.