Photo Credit: Reuters
At least 67 Palestinians were killed on Sunday after Israeli forces opened fire on civilians awaiting food assistance in northern Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry. Dozens more were injured, making it one of the deadliest incidents involving aid seekers since the war began.
The Israeli military claimed it fired warning shots to disperse what it called "an immediate threat" near a crowd gathering around U.N. aid trucks. Initial assessments, it said, indicated that casualty numbers might have been "inflated." In a separate incident in the south, six more people were reportedly killed near another aid distribution point.
The World Food Programme confirmed that a 25-truck convoy entering northern Gaza was met by "massive crowds of hungry civilians," who then came under fire. "Any violence involving civilians seeking humanitarian aid is completely unacceptable," the agency stated.
Across Gaza, Israeli strikes and gunfire claimed 88 lives on Sunday alone. Leaflets dropped over central Gaza urged evacuations, prompting families in Deir al-Balah to flee, though that area had previously been untouched by direct ground operations. Israeli officials say Hamas may be holding hostages there, which has limited military movement.
The prolonged siege has devastated Gaza's food supply chain. "Hundreds of people whose bodies have wasted away are at risk of imminent death due to hunger," said the Hamas-run health ministry. At least 71 children have died from malnutrition since the start of the conflict, and over 60,000 are exhibiting symptoms of starvation. Eighteen more deaths due to hunger were recorded on Sunday alone.
UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, reported it has enough supplies to feed the entire population for three months, but convoys are routinely blocked. Israel maintains that facilitating humanitarian aid remains "a matter of utmost importance," and says it is working in coordination with international bodies.
Pope Leo condemned the violence, calling for an end to "the barbarity of war," following an Israeli strike on Gaza's only Catholic church that killed three.
With over 58,000 Palestinians killed and nearly the entire population displaced since October 2023, many in Gaza are now surviving on one meal, or none, per day. "People who didn't die of bombs will die of hunger," said Ziad, a nurse and father of five.
Talks in Doha for a temporary truce continue with no breakthrough. Meanwhile, the cost of survival continues to rise, paid in lives lost to both war and famine.
