Starving Palestinians shot dead near World Food Programme convoy | GHF mercenaries continue to kill

The Humanitarian Director in Gaza of Save The Children on Sunday said the situation in Gaza had "never been so bad" as at least 85 Palestinians were killed while trying to reach food at locations across the territory on the deadliest day yet for aid-seekers in over 21 months of war.

"Children are crying all the time for food. And my teams who are employed, they have money in their bank accounts, they're unable to find food in Gaza to buy," Rachael Cummings, Humanitarian Director in Gaza, Save The Children told Sky News.

"So the situation is absolutely terrible and people are making impossible choices to risk their lives to try and find food," she added.

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 organizations trying to distribute aid are located. One aid group said several groups' offices were told to evacuate immediately. There was no immediate Israeli comment on that.

"Some of my team are living in these areas and they literally have nowhere to go. There is nowhere for people to go, there is nowhere safe in Gaza for people to move to. So the situation for my team and other humanitarian workers here is absolutely desperate," Cummings said.

The largest death toll was in devastated northern Gaza, where living conditions are especially dire. At least 79 Palestinians were killed while trying to reach aid entering through the Zikim crossing with Israel, Zaher al-Waheidi, head of the Health Ministry’s records department, told The Associated Press. The U.N. World Food Program said 25 trucks with aid had entered for “starving communities” when it encountered massive crowds that came under gunfire.

A U.N. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to comment on the incident to the media, said Israeli forces opened fire toward the crowds who tried to take food from the convoy. Footage taken by the U.N. and shared with the AP showed Palestinian men running as the sound of automatic gunfire could be heard.

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 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 5-year-old boy, according to the Kuwait Specialized Field Hospital, which received the casualties.

The new evacuation orders cut access between the central city of Deir al-Balah and 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 U.N. facilities in the southwestern part of Deir al-Balah are included in the evacuation order, according to a different U.N. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to the media. The official said that in previous instances, U.N. 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 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.

Gaza’s population of more than 2 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.

Ambulances in front of three major hospitals in Gaza sounded their alarms simultaneously Sunday in an urgent appeal as the hunger crisis grows. The Health Ministry posted pictures on social media of doctors holding signs about malnourished children and the lack of medication.

Hamas triggered the war when militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 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 doesn’t 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 U.N. and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.