At least 67 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire as they waited for UN aid trucks in northern Gaza Sunday, the Gaza health ministry said, as Israel issued new evacuation orders for areas packed with displaced people.The ministry said dozens of people were also wounded in the incident in northern Gaza. It was one of the highest reported death tolls among repeated recent cases in which aid seekers have been killed, including 36 on Saturday. Another six people were killed near another aid site in the south, it said.The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said that shortly after entering Gaza, a WFP convoy of 25 trucks carrying food aid encountered "massive crowds of hungry civilians" who then came under gunfire."WFP reiterates that any violence involving civilians seeking humanitarian aid is completely unacceptable," it said in a statement.A Hamas official told Reuters that the resistance group was angered over the mounting deaths and the hunger crisis in the enclave, and that this could badly affect ceasefire talks underway in Qatar.In total, health authorities said 90 people had been killed by Israeli gunfire and airstrikes across the enclave yesterday.After Israel's military dropped leaflets urging people to evacuate from neighbourhoods in central Gaza's Deir al-Balah, residents said Israeli planes struck three houses in the area.Dozens of families began leaving their homes, carrying some of their belongings. Hundreds of thousands of displaced Gazans have been sheltering in the Deir al-Balah area.Much of Gaza has been reduced to a wasteland during more than 21 months of war and there are fears of accelerating starvation.Palestinian health officials said hundreds of people could soon die as hospitals were inundated with patients suffering from dizziness and exhaustion due to the scarcity of food and a collapse in aid deliveries."We warn that hundreds of people whose bodies have wasted away are at risk of imminent death due to hunger," said the health ministry, which is controlled by Hamas.The United Nations also said on Sunday that civilians were starving and needed an urgent influx of aid.Pope Leo called for an end to the "barbarity of war" as he spoke of his profound pain over an Israeli strike on the sole Catholic church in Gaza that killed three people on Thursday.Gaza residents said it was becoming impossible to find essential food such as flour.UNRWA, the UN refugee agency dedicated to Palestinians, demanded Israel allow more aid trucks into Gaza, saying it had enough food for the entire population for over three months which was not allowed in.Israel and Hamas are engaged in indirect talks in Doha aimed at reaching a 60-day truce and hostage deal, although there has been no sign of breakthrough.18 deaths from hunger
July 20, 2025 | 10:33 PM