More than 80 killed trying to reach aid in Gaza, health ministry says
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.
Palestinians carried sacks of humanitarian aid unloaded from trucks headed to Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday (Jehad Alshrafi/AP)
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.'
Palestinians reacted after carrying the bodies of those killed while trying to reach aid trucks entering northern Gaza through the Zikim crossing with Israel on Sunday (Jehad Alshrafi/AP)
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.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said repeatedly that expanding Israel's military operations in Gaza would pressure Hamas in negotiations (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)
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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North Wales Chronicle
an hour ago
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Antisemitism reports spiked day after Bob Vylan Glastonbury chants
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Rhyl Journal
an hour ago
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Antisemitism reports spiked day after Bob Vylan Glastonbury chants
Sentiment towards Israel is influencing and driving contemporary anti-Jewish discourse, the Community Security Trust (CST) said. The organisation, which monitors antisemitism in the UK, said there were a total of 1,521 antisemitic incidents across the UK in the first half of this year. This is the second-highest total ever reported to the organisation in the first six months of any year but is down by a quarter from the record high of 2,019 incidents recorded between January and June last year. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said antisemitic incidents and crimes 'remain shamefully and persistently high'. There were at least 200 incidents every month in the first half of 2025, with the highest daily total at 26 incidents reported on June 29. This was a day after a performance by punk duo Bob Vylan at the world-renowned Glastonbury music festival in Somerset. During the set, which was livestreamed on BBC, rapper Bobby Vylan chanted 'Death, death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces)'. The CST said the incidents reported to the charity involved anti-Jewish responses to events at Glastonbury as well as to the CST's subsequent statement on X which had branded the chants 'utterly chilling'. Avon and Somerset Police said last month that inquiries were continuing in relation to the comments made onstage during Bob Vylan's performance. The second-worst day for what the CST described as 'anti-Jewish hate' was May 17 when 19 incidents were recorded – coming a day after Israel announced an expansion of its military operation in Gaza. The CST said: 'Both of these cases illustrate how sentiment and rhetoric towards Israel and Zionism influence, shape and drive contemporary anti-Jewish discourse, online and offline, often around totemic events that grab mainstream public attention.' Just over half (51%) of all incidents in the first half of this year 'referenced or were linked to Israel, Palestine, the Hamas terror attack (of October 7, 2023) or the subsequent outbreak of conflict', the CST said. This was a similar proportion to the same period last year, and up from 16% in the first six months of 2023, reflecting a rise in 'anti-Jewish hate in the UK when Israel is at war', the CST said. Mark Gardner, the organisation's chief executive, said the statistics demonstrated 'extreme levels of Jew-hatred, committed in the name of anti-Israel activism'. June saw the highest number of incidents, with 326 being recorded following heightening tensions in Gaza. A total of 76 violent anti-Jewish assaults were recorded by the charity in the first six months of 2025, including three categorised as 'extreme violence' that resulted in either grievous bodily harm or a threat to life. The CST added that 84 cases of damage and desecration of Jewish property were recorded, as well as 21 incidents of mass-produced antisemitic literature and 1,236 incidents of verbal or written abuse. The trust said 572 online incidents were reported to them in the first half of the year, accounting for 38% of the total and down 12% from the same period last year. Giving examples of the range of incidents reported, Mr Gardner, said: 'It involves racial hatred, yelled at Jewish schoolchildren, scrawled on synagogue walls and thrown at anyone who is Jewish, or suspected of being Jewish. 'In such difficult times, CST is proud to give strength to British Jews when they most need it. 'We thank those politicians and police officers who have supported our community, especially when Jew-hatred is effectively sanctioned in so many spaces that falsely claim to oppose all forms of racism.' There were 774 antisemitic incidents recorded by the CST in Greater London, a drop of 26% over the same timeframe in 2024, and 194 cases in Greater Manchester, a decrease of 28% compared to the previous year. Outside these cities, the police areas with the highest number of reports were West Yorkshire with 73, Hertfordshire with 52, Scotland with 36, Sussex with 32 and West Midlands with 39. Northern Ireland had nine reports while Suffolk was the only mainland police region not to record a single incident, the trust said. Ms Cooper said antisemitism 'has a profoundly damaging impact both on the individuals affected and the wider Jewish community', and vowed the Government 'remains steadfast in its commitment to root out the poison of antisemitism wherever it is found'. The Government's independent adviser on antisemitism, Lord Mann, said the latest data shows 'that antisemitism continues to impact the British Jewish community at an unprecedented level'. He added: 'Antisemitism must be recognised by everyone as anti-Jewish racism and there must be a no tolerance approach to it across civil society at all levels.'
