The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has condemned the new United States-backed aid model in Gaza, saying it is a “distraction from atrocities” taking place there, a day after chaotic scenes at an aid distribution centre in the coastal enclave.

On Tuesday, thousands of Palestinians clambered over fences to reach the humanitarian supplies at a distribution site run by the previously unknown, US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), in Rafah, southern Gaza.