More than 80 killed trying to reach aid in Gaza, health ministry says
The development represents the deadliest day yet for people seeking aid in more than 21 months of war.
And there was new alarm as Israel's military issued evacuation orders for areas of central Gaza, one of the few areas where it has rarely operated with ground troops and where many international organisations attempting to distribute aid are located.
One aid group said several groups' offices were told to evacuate immediately.
The largest toll was in northern Gaza, where at least 79 Palestinians were killed while trying to reach aid entering through the Zikim crossing with Israel, according to the health ministry and local hospitals.
The UN World Food Programme said 25 trucks with aid had entered for 'starving communities' when it encountered massive crowds that came under gunfire.
A UN official said Israeli forces opened fire towards the crowds who tried to take food from the convoy. Footage taken by the UN and shared with the Associated Press showed Palestinian men running as the sound of automatic gunfire could be heard.
'Suddenly, tanks surrounded us and trapped us as gunshots and strikes rained down. We were trapped for around two hours,' Ehab Al-Zei, who had been waiting for flour, said.
'I will never go back again. Let us die of hunger, it's better.'
Nafiz Al-Najjar, who was injured, said tanks and drones targeted people 'randomly' and he saw his cousin and others shot dead.
Israel's military said soldiers had shot at a gathering of thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza who posed a threat, and it was aware of some casualties. But it said the numbers reported by officials in Gaza were far higher than its initial investigation found.
The military said it was attempting to facilitate the entry of aid, and accused Hamas militants of creating chaos and endangering civilians.
More than 150 people were wounded overall, with some in critical condition, hospitals said.
Separately, seven Palestinians were killed while sheltering in tents in Khan Younis in the south, including a five-year-old boy, according to the Kuwait Specialised Field Hospital, which received the casualties.
The killings in northern Gaza did not take place near aid distribution points associated with the recently created Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US and Israel-backed group.
Naem Ahmed's family hugged the last bag of WFP wheat flour they received – a small celebration amid desperate conditions.
Everyone in #Gaza is hungry.
It's time to flood the Strip with food and reach ALL families, everywhere – safely and without interruption. pic.twitter.com/9dUovbKz0L
— World Food Programme (@WFP) July 19, 2025
Witnesses and health workers say hundreds of people have been killed by Israeli fire while trying to access the group's aid distribution sites.
The new evacuation orders cut access between the central city of Deir al-Balah and the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis in the narrow territory. The military also reiterated evacuation orders for northern Gaza.
The United Nations has been in contact with Israeli authorities to clarify whether UN facilities in the southwestern part of Deir al-Balah are included in the evacuation order, according to a UN official.
The official said that in previous instances, UN facilities were spared from evacuation orders.
The latest order covers an area stretching from a previously evacuated area all the way to the Mediterranean coast and will severely hamper movement for aid groups and civilians in Gaza.
The Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) group said in a statement that several humanitarian organisations' offices and guesthouses had been 'ordered to evacuate immediately' and nine clinics, including the MAP one, had been forced to shut down.
Military spokesman Avichay Adraee called for people to head to the Muwasi area, a desolate tent camp on Gaza's southern coast that Israel's military has designated a humanitarian zone.
The announcement came as Israel and Hamas have been holding ceasefire talks in Qatar, but international mediators say there have been no breakthroughs.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly asserted that expanding Israel's military operations in Gaza will pressure Hamas in negotiations.
Earlier this month, Israel's military said it controlled more than 65% of Gaza.
Gaza's population of more than two million Palestinians are in a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, now relying largely on the limited aid allowed into the territory. Many people have been displaced multiple times.
Hamas triggered the war when militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Fifty remain in Gaza, but fewer than half are thought to be alive.
Israel's military offensive has killed more than 58,800 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, which does not say how many militants have been killed but says more than half of the dead have been women and children.
The ministry is part of the Hamas government, but the UN and other international organisations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.
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