ISRAELI TANK AND gunfire was heard on Tuesday while giant crowds of Palestinians tried to reach a newly opened aid distribution centre in southern Gaza, it has been reported.

Witnesses said chaos erupted as desperate people broke through fences at the centre, forcing staff to retreat.

There was no immediate word on whether there were any injuries.

The turmoil came on the second day of operations by a US-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which Israel has tasked to take over food distribution in Gaza, despite opposition from the United Nations and other humanitarian organisations.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

Palestinians have become desperate for food after nearly three months of Israeli blockade pushed Gaza to the brink of famine.

On Tuesday, hundreds of thousands of men, women and children walked for several miles, through Israeli military lines, to reach the GHF distribution hub set up on the outskirts of Rafah.

Palestinians carry boxes containing food and humanitarian aid packages delivered by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

In the afternoon, an Associated Press journalist, positioned some distance from the hub, heard gunfire and rounds of tank fire.

Smoke could be seen rising from where one round impacted. Afterwards, crowds were seen returning from the site, almost all of them without having received aid.

Ahmed Abu Taha, who was among those seeking aid, said crowds of people stormed into the distribution centre, breaking fences.

He heard gunfire and saw Israeli military aircraft overhead, “It was chaos,” he said. “People were panicked.”

Another Palestinian, Saleh Abu Najjar, said he heard a tank firing from a distance, east of the centre. “The situation was very dangerous and people were frightened,” he said.

In a statement, GHF said that because of the large number of Palestinians seeking aid, staff at the hub followed the group’s safety protocols and “fell back” to allow them to dissipate, then later resumed operations.

A spokesperson for the group told the AP that no shots were fired from GHF.

Speaking on condition of anonymity in line with the group’s rules, the spokesperson said the protocol aims at “avoiding loss of life, which is exactly what happened”.

GHF uses armed private contractors to guard the hubs and the transportation of supplies.

The hub is also close to Israeli military positions in the Morag Corridor, a band of territory across the breadth of Gaza that divides Rafah from the rest of the territory.

GHF has set up four hubs around Gaza to distribute food, two of which began operating on Monday – both of them in the Rafah area.

UN officials and aid workers have warned of the risk of friction between Israeli troops and crowds of people seeking aid at the hubs.