Officials say 85 Palestinians seeking aid are killed in Gaza as Israel
widens evacuation orders
[July 21, 2025]
By WAFAA SHURAFA, FATMA KHALED, MELANIE LIDMAN and SAMY
MAGDY
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Gaza saw its deadliest day yet for
aid-seekers in over 21 months of war as at least 85 Palestinians were
killed while trying to reach food on Sunday, the territory's Health
Ministry said.
There was new alarm as Israel's military issued evacuation orders for
parts 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 group said several offices were told to
evacuate immediately. There was no immediate Israeli comment.
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.
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 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 automatic gunfire was heard.
“Suddenly, tanks surrounded us and trapped us as gunshots and strikes
rained down. We were trapped for around two hours,” said Ehab Al-Zei,
who had been waiting for flour and said he hadn't eaten bread in 15
days. He spoke over the din of people carrying the dead and wounded. ”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 accuses Hamas of creating chaos
Israel's military said soldiers 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. It accused Hamas
militants of creating chaos.
More than 150 people were wounded, some in critical condition, hospitals
said.
Al-Waheidi said Israeli gunfire killed another six Palestinians in the
Shakoush area, hundreds of meters (yards) north of a hub of the recently
created Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S.- and Israel-backed group,
in the southern city of Rafah. The GHF said it was not aware of any
incident near its site. Witnesses and health workers say several hundred
people have been killed by Israeli fire while trying to access the
group's aid distribution sites.
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.
Evacuation orders cut road across Gaza
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.
Palestinians were startled to see the orders for parts of Deir al-Balah,
a relative haven. "All of Rafah is under evacuation, and now you have
decided that half of Deir al-Balah is under evacuation. Where will we
move to?” asked resident Hassan Abu Azab, as others piled everything
from bedding to live ducks onto carts and other vehicles. Smoke rose in
the distance, with blasts and the sound of a siren.
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Palestinians react after carrying the bodies of those killed while
trying to reach aid trucks entering northern Gaza through the Zikim
crossing with Israel, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Sunday, July
20, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
The United Nations was in contact with Israeli authorities to
clarify whether U.N. facilities in the southwestern part of Deir al-Balah
are included in the 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 such orders.
The Medical Aid for Palestinians group said several humanitarian
organizations’ offices and guesthouses had been “ordered to evacuate
immediately” and nine clinics, including the MAP one, had been
forced to shut down. It was not immediately clear what other groups
were affected.
Military spokesman Avichay Adraee called for people to head to
Muwasi, a desolate tent camp with little infrastructure 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. 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.
Palestinian death toll nears 59,000
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 hunger 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 over 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.
The Hostages Family Forum, a grassroots organization that represents
many families of hostages, condemned the new evacuation order and
demanded that Netanyahu and Israel's military explain what they hope
to accomplish in central Gaza.
“Enough! The Israeli people overwhelmingly want an end to the
fighting and a comprehensive agreement that will return all of the
hostages,” the forum said. On Saturday night, during a weekly
protest, tens of thousands marched in Tel Aviv to the branch of the
U.S. Embassy, demanding an end to the war.
___
Khaled and Magdy reported from Cairo and Lidman from Tel Aviv,
Israel.
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