At least 67 Palestinians have been killed and more than 150 injured whilst waiting for humanitarian aid in northern Gaza, according to hospital officials, in the latest deadly incident at food distribution points that have claimed hundreds of lives in recent weeks.
The deaths occurred in al-Sudaniya as desperate civilians attempted to access aid entering through the Zikim crossing with Israel on Sunday. The director of al-Shifa hospital confirmed the toll, with local medical facilities reporting that many of the wounded were in critical condition.
Israeli military officials acknowledged that soldiers had opened fire on what they described as a gathering of thousands of Palestinians who posed a threat. However, the military claimed casualty figures reported by Gaza health teams were “far higher” than their initial investigation indicated.
The killings mark the latest in a series of deadly incidents at aid distribution sites across Gaza, where the United Nations human rights office has recorded 875 Palestinian aid seekers killed between May and July – 674 near aid sites and 201 near or on aid convoy routes.
Controversial Aid Distribution System
Sunday’s deaths did not occur near distribution points operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US and Israeli-backed organisation that began distributing food packages at the end of May following an 11-week Israeli blockade. The controversial initiative has faced widespread condemnation from humanitarian organisations.
Aid distribution has become a death trap,” warned Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, describing conditions at the militarised distribution sites where Palestinians face almost daily attacks whilst attempting to obtain food.
The GHF operates just four distribution centres in southern Gaza, secured by American contractors with Israeli troops patrolling the perimeter. The sites feature chain-link fences directing Palestinians into military base-resembling structures surrounded by large sand berms, where they undergo identity checks and screening before accessing food.
More than 170 charities and NGOs, including Save the Children and Oxfam, have refused to work with the GHF, accusing it of violating humanitarian norms. The UN’s humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher told the Security Council that the GHF “restricts aid to only one part of Gaza while leaving other dire needs unmet.”
Gaza’s Government Media Office has branded the distribution sites as “human slaughterhouses,” with at least 798 Palestinian civilians killed between 27 May and 7 July whilst desperately seeking food, according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
These are war crimes and crimes against humanity,” the media office stated, calling for an independent international investigation and immediate suspension of the GHF delivery model.
Witnesses to Sunday’s killings said people had begun forming queues as early as 4:30am, desperate to obtain food before sites became overwhelmed. After about an hour and a half, hundreds moved toward the site, and the army opened fire,” witness Abdallah Nour al-Din told reporters.
The Israeli military blamed Hamas militants for “fomenting chaos and endangering civilians,” whilst maintaining it was attempting to facilitate aid entry. The military provided no evidence to support claims of Hamas interference with aid distribution.
Church Attack Draws Papal Condemnation
The weekend’s violence extended beyond aid distribution points. On Thursday, an Israeli strike hit Gaza’s only Catholic church, killing three people and wounding ten others, including parish priest Father Gabriel Romanelli, who had developed a close friendship with the late Pope Francis.
Pope Leo XIV expressed being “deeply saddened” by the attack on the Holy Family Catholic Church and renewed calls for an immediate ceasefire. “His Holiness renews his call for an immediate ceasefire, and he expresses his profound hope for dialogue, reconciliation and enduring peace in the region,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin stated on the Pope’s behalf.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel “deeply regrets that a stray ammunition hit Gaza’s Holy Family Church” and that “every innocent life lost is a tragedy.” The military claimed fragments from a shell fired during operational activity had hit the church “mistakenly.
US President Donald Trump also condemned the church strike, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt saying it “was not a positive reaction” from the president. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the attacks on civilians “unacceptable,” stating that “no military action can justify such an attitude.
The latest killings occur against a backdrop of deepening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Since Israel ended a ceasefire on 18 March, 4,603 Palestinians have been killed and more than 14,000 injured, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The overall death toll since October 2023 has reached 54,880, with more than 126,000 injured.
UN officials report that 100 per cent of Gaza’s population faces acute food insecurity, with nearly half a million people – mostly children – confronting catastrophic hunger, death and malnutrition. Before the conflict, approximately 400 aid sites operated across Gaza, with 500 trucks daily required to meet basic needs. The GHF reportedly brings in just 60 trucks per day.
“This is a drop in the ocean of needs,” a UN official stated, comparing current levels to the 630 truckloads that entered daily during previous ceasefires. Between 19 May and 14 July, only 1,633 trucks reached the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings – 62 per cent of those submitted to Israeli authorities.
Growing International Pressure
The mounting civilian casualties have intensified international pressure for renewed ceasefire negotiations. Talks in Qatar between Israel and Hamas have yielded no breakthroughs, though Trump told reporters on Friday he believes an agreement could be reached “within a week.
France announced it would co-chair an international conference with Saudi Arabia on 29-30 July focused on implementing a two-state solution. This solution is not a utopia or a pipe dream – it is a pathway towards the future,” France’s representative stated.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military issued new evacuation orders on Sunday for areas of central Gaza packed with displaced Palestinians, alarming families of Israeli hostages who fear their relatives may be held in targeted areas.
Somalia’s UN delegate warned that “as long as the root causes – occupation, blockade, and the denial of Palestinian self-determination – persist, peace will remain out of reach.” The US defended the GHF, with its representative claiming that “refusal to work with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is tantamount to dereliction of duty in the humanitarian space.”
As the death toll continues to mount and humanitarian conditions deteriorate, the international community faces growing calls to address what UN officials describe as the deliberate weaponisation of aid in Gaza.
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Image Credit:
Gaza war 2023–2025 – Photo by Jaber Badwan, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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