Now the primary vehicle for food distribution inside Gaza, the controversial U.S.- and Israeli-backed operation is an issue in ongoing ceasefire negotiations.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The U.N. food agency accused Israel of using tanks, snipers and other weapons to fire on a crowd of Palestinians seeking food aid, in what the territory’s Health Ministry said was one of the deadliest days for aid-seekers in over 21 months of war.

The foreign ministers of 25 Western nations have slammed Israel for “drip feeding” aid into the Gaza Strip, as the health ministry in the territory said that more than 1,000 people have been killed seeking humanitarian relief there since late May.