At least 67 individuals awaiting UN aid trucks in northern Gaza have been killed, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
The UN World Food Programme reported that its 25-truck convoy “encountered massive crowds of hungry civilians which came under gunfire” shortly after crossing from Israel and passing through checkpoints.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated that they had “fired warning shots” to disperse what they perceived as “an immediate threat,” while disputing the reported death toll.
On Saturday, the UN warned of escalating hunger in Gaza, noting an increase in the number of people arriving at their facilities “in a state of extreme exhaustion and fatigue.”
“We warn that hundreds of people whose bodies have wasted away are at risk of imminent death due to hunger,” the UN stated, echoing prior warnings of starvation among Gaza’s civilian population and calls for an urgent influx of essential supplies.
The ministry reported that six additional people were killed while awaiting aid in other parts of Gaza, with over 150 others sustaining injuries, some of them severe. Health authorities reported a total of 88 fatalities from Israeli gunfire and air strikes on Sunday alone.
Many of the casualties from northern Gaza were transported to Shifa hospital in Gaza City. The medical director there, Dr. Hassan al-Shaer, told BBC Arabic on Sunday that the facility was “overwhelmed” and was redirecting the wounded to other field hospitals.
Outside the hospital, a woman told BBC Arabic that “the whole population is dying.”
“Children are dying of hunger because they have nothing to eat. People are surviving on water and salt… just water and salt,” she said.
There have been near-daily reports of Palestinians killed while seeking food since late May. On Saturday, at least 32 people were killed by Israeli gunfire near two aid distribution points in southern Gaza, according to the ministry.
Many of the incidents have occurred near sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US and Israel-backed organization that uses private security contractors to distribute aid from locations within Israeli military zones. However, some incidents have also taken place near aid delivered by the UN.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military has issued evacuation orders for a densely populated area in central Gaza, where it has not conducted a ground offensive during its 21 months of conflict against Hamas.
On Sunday, the IDF announced that residents and displaced Palestinians sheltering in the city of Deir al-Balah must evacuate immediately and relocate to al-Mawasi on the Mediterranean coast.
The evacuation order, potentially indicating an imminent attack, has triggered widespread panic among tens of thousands of Palestinians, as well as families of Israeli hostages who fear their relatives are being held in the city.
The IDF has conducted air strikes in the area, but has not yet deployed ground troops.
On Sunday, the Israeli military airdropped leaflets ordering residents in several districts in southwest Deir al-Balah to evacuate their homes and move further south.
“The (Israeli) Defense Forces continues to operate with great force to destroy the enemy’s capabilities and terrorist infrastructure in the area,” the military stated, adding that it had not yet entered these districts during the war.
The affected neighborhoods of Deir al-Balah are densely populated with displaced individuals living in tents.
Israeli sources told Reuters news agency that the army has refrained from entering these districts due to suspicions that Hamas may be holding hostages there.
At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in captivity in Gaza are believed to still be alive.
Most of the Strip’s population of over two million people have been displaced at least once during Israel’s war with Hamas, with repeated Israeli evacuation calls encompassing large portions of the territory.
On Sunday, Pope Leo XIV called for an “immediate end to the barbarity of the war” and urged against “indiscriminate use of force.”
His comments followed a deadly Israeli strike on Gaza’s only Catholic Church, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country deeply regretted.
Israel initiated its war in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of approximately 1,200 people and the abduction of 251 others.
According to the Hamas-run health ministry, Israeli attacks have since killed more than 58,895 people in Gaza. The ministry’s figures are cited by the UN and other organizations as the most reliable available source of casualty statistics.
More than 100 others were also injured near two sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, according to the Hamas-run health ministry and civil defence agency.
One woman tells the BBC she cowered in her home waiting for gunmen to enter and “decide whether we should live or die”.
The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR) documented a significant outbreak of brutality in the killings that gripped Suweida province.
PM Benjamin Netanyahu says Thursday’s strike on the Holy Family Church in Gaza City was a “mistake”.
Israel’s prime minister says it “deeply regrets that a stray ammunition hit” the Catholic Church of the Holy Family in Gaza City.