Image Source: Agencies

July 21, 2025: At least 85 people were killed while attempting to access aid at locations across Gaza on Sunday, the health ministry in the Palestinian territory said.
According to the ministry and local hospitals, the largest death toll occurred in northern Gaza, where at least 79 Palestinians tried to get aid through the Zikim crossing with Israel. According to hospitals, more than 150 people were injured, some of whom were in critical condition. Whether they were killed by armed gangs, the Israeli army, or both was not immediately clear. However, according to some witnesses, the Israeli military fired at the crowd. The Gaza Humanitarian Fund, or GHF, a group that distributes food packages to Palestinians and is supported by the United States and Israel, was not the location of the killings in northern Gaza.

Witnesses and medical professionals claim that Israeli fire has killed hundreds of people trying to enter the group's distribution centers. The killings on Sunday were not immediately addressed by the Israeli military. In the meantime, on Sunday, the Israeli military issued new evacuation warnings for central Gaza, one of the few areas where ground troops have rarely been deployed. In the small enclave, the evacuation blocks access between the city of Deir al-Balah and the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis. Israel and Hamas have been holding ceasefire talks in Qatar, but international mediators say there have been no breakthroughs. The announcement came at the same time. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stressed that expanding Israel’s military operations in Gaza will pressure Hamas to negotiate, but negotiations have been stalled for months.
Earlier this month, the Israeli military said that it controlled more than 65% of the Gaza Strip. Numerous international organizations attempting to distribute aid are in the Gaza region under the evacuation order. The Pope demands an end to barbarism: On Sunday, Pope Leo XIV reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, requesting that the international community adhere to international laws and fulfill their responsibility to safeguard civilians. “I once again call for an immediate end to the barbarity of this war and for a peaceful resolution to the conflict,” the pontiff said at the end of his Sunday Angelus prayer from his summer retreat in Castel Gandolfo.
In addition, Pope Leo expressed his "deep sorrow" regarding Thursday's Israeli attack on the only Catholic Church in the Gaza Strip.