ISRAELI shelling today killed at least seven Palestinians gathered near aid distribution points near Rafah in southern Gaza.

This came as Palestinians marked the beginning of one of Islam’s most important holidays, Eid al-Adha.

With much of Gaza in rubble, men and children were forced to hold the traditional Eid prayers in the open air and with food supplies dwindling, families were having to make do with what they could scrape together for the three-day feast.

“This is the worst feast that the Palestinian people have experienced because of the unjust war against the Palestinian people,” said Kamel Emran after attending prayers in the southern city of Khan Younis.

“There is no food, no flour, no shelter, no mosques, no homes, no mattresses. The conditions are very, very harsh.”

The plight of the Palestinians was worsened as the humanitarian aid group set up by Israel and the United States said it was closing all the distribution sites until further notice because of Israeli fire.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which has, until now, denied there were any killings at its distribution centres, said today that it was closing all of its sites until further notice. 

In a statement, the GHF said that it was advising people to stay away from the aid hubs “for their safety.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted on Thursday that Israel has “activated” some clans of Palestinians in Gaza that are opposed to Hamas, though it was not immediately clear what role they would play.

His comments on social media were the first public acknowledgment of Israel’s backing of armed Palestinian groups within Gaza, based around powerful clans or extended families.

Palestinians and aid workers have accused clans of carrying out criminal attacks and stealing aid from trucks.

Meanwhile, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres urged world leaders on Thursday to take advantage of a forthcoming conference on the conflict “to keep the two-state solution alive.”

Mr Guterres told reporters that the international community must not only support a solution where independent states of Palestine and Israel live side-by-side in peace but “materialise the conditions to make it happen.”

France and Saudi Arabia are co-chairing the conference from June 17 to June 20 in New York.

But Jonathan Harounoff, the Israeli Mission’s international spokesman, said: “We won’t be taking part in a conference that doesn’t first urgently address the issue of condemning Hamas and returning all of the remaining hostages brutally taken by Hamas in Gaza.”