Gaza Strip, Aug. 4 -- Israeli forces killed at least 23 Palestinians seeking food on Sunday in Gaza, according to hospital officials and witnesses, who described facing gunfire as hungry crowds surged around aid sites, as the malnutrition-related death toll also rose. Desperation has gripped the Palestinian territory of more than 2 million, which experts have warned is facing famine because of Israel's blockade and nearly two-year offensive. Yousef Abed, among the crowds en route to a distribution point, described coming under what he called indiscriminate fire, seeing at least three people bleeding on the ground. "I couldn't stop and help them because of the bullets," he said. Southern Gaza's Nasser Hospital said they received bodies from routes to the sites, including eight from Teina, about three kilometres away from a distribution site in Khan Younis, which is operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the private US- and Israeli-backed contractor that took over aid distribution more than two months ago. The United Nations reported 859 people were killed near GHF sites from May 27 to July 31 and that hundreds more have been slain along the routes of UN-led food convoys. The GHF launched in May as Israel sought an alternative to the UN-run system, which had safely delivered aid for much of the war but was accused by Israel of allowing Hamas, which guarded convoys early in the war, to siphon supplies. Israel has not offered evidence of widespread theft. The UN has denied it. GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired warning shots to prevent deadly crowding. Israel's military has said it only fires warning shots as well. Israel's military did immediately responded to questions about Sunday's reported fatalities. GHF's media office said there was no gunfire "near or at our sites"....