At least 59 Palestinians were killed and over 220 wounded after Israeli tanks shelled a crowd of people waiting for food aid in southern Gaza on Tuesday, according to medics — one of the deadliest incidents in the territory’s worsening humanitarian catastrophe.
Graphic footage shared online showed bodies strewn across a road, while witnesses recounted scenes of chaos and horror. The crowd had gathered along a major eastern road in Khan Younis, where aid trucks typically pass. According to eyewitnesses, Israeli forces initially allowed the group to advance before opening fire.
“All of a sudden, they let us move forward and made everyone gather, and then shells started falling, tank shells,” said Alaa, speaking from Nasser Hospital. The facility, already overwhelmed, was treating the wounded in hallways and on floors.
“No one is looking at these people with mercy,” he said. “They’re being torn apart trying to get food for their children.”
Palestinian medics reported 59 people dead and at least 221 injured, with 20 in critical condition. Makeshift ambulances—including donkey carts—were used to transport victims. Another 14 Palestinians were killed elsewhere in the Strip by Israeli airstrikes and gunfire, pushing Tuesday’s total death toll to 73.
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) acknowledged opening fire in the area. It said a crowd had gathered near a stuck aid truck and “in proximity to IDF troops operating in the area,” adding that it is investigating the incident. “The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimise harm as much as possible to them while maintaining the safety of our troops.”
Since late May, the Gaza health ministry says 397 people seeking aid have been killed, with over 3,000 more wounded. The deaths have occurred in a string of near-daily attacks on aid-seekers following the partial lifting of a near-total blockade imposed by Israel for almost three months.
Israel now funnels most aid via the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF)—a US- and Israeli-backed body that runs four heavily guarded distribution centres. The United Nations has criticised the GHF model as unsafe and biased, warning it undermines humanitarian neutrality. Hamas denies allegations of diverting aid, while Gaza authorities accuse Israel of using the GHF as a tool of control.
The GHF said Tuesday’s attack occurred near a UN World Food Programme site, not at one of its own. On Monday, it claimed to have safely distributed over three million meals.
The ongoing war, triggered by Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 and saw 251 hostages taken, has now killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, displaced almost the entire population of 2.3 million, and plunged the territory into severe hunger.
Amid the humanitarian collapse, many in Gaza are watching the escalating Israel-Iran conflict with interest. Some Gazans have circulated images of Israeli buildings damaged by Iranian missiles, expressing grim satisfaction that Israelis are now experiencing the terror of airstrikes long endured in Gaza.
