The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Israeli forces on Tuesday killed six Palestinian police officers, who witnesses told AFP had been securing the passage of an aid truck.

"Six Palestinian police officers killed as a result of the Israeli occupation targeting their vehicle in the Khirbat al-Adas neighbourhood in Rafah," a ministry statement said.

Witnesses said the officers had been securing the passage of a flour truck when Israeli aircraft hit their car, ripping the passengers to pieces.

An AFP photographer at the scene saw blood sprayed across part of the crushed vehicle, bearing a police emblem on the hood.

First responders covered a body with blankets and loaded it into a damaged ambulance.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strike when contacted by AFP.

Palestinian police officers have been brought in to secure aid convoys travelling through Gaza, where desperate residents have clambered aboard trucks in search of vital supplies.

There have been repeated strikes on vehicles and buildings in Rafah, which is crammed with more than half of Gaza's population.

Israel's withering military campaign since October 7 has killed at least 27,585 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

The war was sparked by an attack on Israel by Hamas militants which resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.