Israeli attacks have killed at least 78 people in the Gaza Strip since dawn, including 14 Palestinians who were waiting near aid distribution centres, medical sources told Al Jazeera, even as United States President Donald Trump said “great progress” was being made to bring an end to the war, Aljazeera reported.

Sources at al-Awda and Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospitals in Gaza told Al Jazeera that at least nine Palestinians were killed and several others injured by Israeli fire early on Wednesday while waiting for aid near the Netzarim Junction in central Gaza.

The deaths are the latest in a wave of violencenear aid distribution points established late last month by the controversial Israel- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which critics have slammed as “human slaughterhouses” and “death traps”.

The GHF has come under fierce criticism from aid agencies and the United Nations, which says the group is not able to meet the population’s needs and turns food into a weapon for Israel to carry out its military operations, according to Aljazeera.