KEY POINTS
- Israeli strikes on Gaza killed 104 people on Sunday, including 78 seeking humanitarian aid.
- Gaza’s Health Ministry says the total death toll has surpassed 58,895.
- Gaza’s civil defence reported 67 civilians shot dead while waiting for aid near Gaza City.
- Israeli military issued fresh evacuation orders in Deir el-Balah, signalling expanded ground operations.
- Over 900 Palestinians have been killed at aid sites since the US-backed GHF began distributing aid.
- Pope Leo condemned the “barbarity” of the war and called for an immediate ceasefire.
GAZA CITY, Palestine: Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip on Sunday killed at least 104 people, including 78 seeking humanitarian aid, as the overall death toll from the war surpassed 58,895, according to the Palestinian territory’s Health Ministry.
Among the dead, 78 aid seekers were killed and more than 200 were injured, including at least 67 killed northwest of Gaza and 13 north of Rafah, southern Gaza.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd of civilians waiting to collect aid near Gaza City.
Civil defence spokesperson Mahmud Bassal, cited by AFP, said that at least 67 people were killed and dozens wounded in the Israeli attack on aid seekers near Gaza City.
The UN World Food Programme said its 25-truck convoy carrying food aid “encountered massive crowds of hungry civilians which came under gunfire”, soon after it crossed the border from Israel and cleared checkpoints.
Israel’s military disputed the death toll and said soldiers had fired warning shots “to remove an immediate threat posed to them” as thousands gathered near Gaza City.
Deaths of civilians seeking aid have become a regular occurrence in Gaza, with the authorities blaming Israeli fire as crowds facing chronic shortages of food and other essentials flock in huge numbers to aid centres.
Civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said the death toll was 67 and expected to rise, while the WFP condemned violence against civilians seeking aid as “completely unacceptable”.
The UN said earlier this month that nearly 800 aid-seekers had been killed since late May, including on the routes of aid convoys.
In the southern Gaza Strip, the civil defence agency said six others were killed on Sunday near an aid distribution centre northwest of Rafah, where dozens of people lost their lives a day earlier.
Medical sources quoted by Al Jazeera reported that at least 180 people were killed and 495 wounded across the territory in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of injured since the start of Israel’s military campaign to over 140,980.
In a separate incident on Sunday, Al Jazeera quoted a source at Al-Shifa Hospital as saying at least two more Palestinians were killed while waiting for aid northwest of Gaza City.
The UN and aid organisations have criticised the GHF, accusing it of contributing to the “weaponisation” of aid and calling on Israel to allow the entry of blocked humanitarian assistance.
Israeli military issues evacuation order
The Israeli military on Sunday also issued an evacuation order for civilians in central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah area, warning of expanded ground operations.
Military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a post on X that residents should evacuate towards the al-Mawasi coastal area “for your safety”.
He added that Israeli forces were preparing to operate “in an area where [they] have not operated before”.
#عاجل ‼️ إلى جميع المتواجدين في المنطقة الجنوبية الغربية من دير البلح، في البلوكات 130، 132-134، 136-139، 2351، بما في ذلك المتواجدين داخل الخيام الموجودة في المنطقة
⭕️يواصل جيش الدفاع العمل بقوة كبيرة لتدمير قدرات العدو والبنى التحتية الإرهابية في المنطقة حيث يوسّع أنشطته في… pic.twitter.com/dcDvPcJLC1
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) July 20, 2025
According to the UN’s humanitarian office OCHA, more than 80 percent of Gaza remains under Israeli evacuation orders, with repeated displacement affecting the majority of the enclave’s population of over two million.
Israeli forces also demolished several civilian homes in the Shujayea neighbourhood, east of Gaza City, on Sunday, Al Jazeera reported, citing Palestinian sources.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces have intensified operations in northern Gaza’s Jabalia area, claiming to have killed “dozens of terrorists” and dismantled “hundreds of terrorist infrastructure” sites.
A military statement added that underground tunnels stretching over 2.7 kilometres at a depth of 20 metres had been located and destroyed.
Gaza ceasefire talks
The escalating violence comes amid ongoing but stalled indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas for a possible 60-day ceasefire and the release of 10 hostages.
Of the 251 hostages taken during the October 7, 2023 attack, 49 remain in Gaza, including 27 who the Israeli military says are dead.
Families of hostages held rallies in Tel Aviv over the weekend, demanding clarity from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump on efforts to bring back their loved ones and end the war.
Meanwhile, Pope Leo XIV on Sunday condemned the “barbarity” of the war in Gaza, calling for an immediate ceasefire and respect for international humanitarian law.
Speaking at Castel Gandolfo after the Angelus prayer, the Pope expressed “deep sorrow” over a recent Israeli strike on the Holy Family Church, which was sheltering around 600 displaced people, including children and those with special needs.
“This act, unfortunately, adds to the ongoing military attacks against the civilian population and places of worship in Gaza,” he said, urging an end to collective punishment and the indiscriminate use of force.
