Charity and aid groups said in a joint statement that more than 500 Palestinians had been killed and almost 4,000 injured in less than four weeks while trying to access or distribute food in Gaza.

The call from some of the world's top aid organisations and charities comes after reports of soldiers killing hundreds of of Palestinians at aid sites.

Cairo — Dozens of international charities and non-governmental organizations, including Oxfam, Save the Children and Amnesty, called Tuesday for an Israeli and U.S.-backed aid mechanism for Gaza to disband over repeated incidents of chaos and deadly violence against Palestinians heading toward its sites.