Gaza Civil Defense: Israel attacked people awaiting aid, resulting in 67 deaths

The Gaza Civil defense agency said that the Israeli army opened fire on a Palestinian crowd waiting to receive humanitarian aid on Sunday (July 20), killing 67 people and injuring dozens.

Hartel, 36, told AFP that he rushed from Jabalia to Sultania in Gaza City hoping to get a bag of flour, where thousands of people are facing shortages of food and daily necessities.

It was so crowded there that men, women, the elderly and children were all huddled together. It was simply unbearable.

It feels as if we have lost our lives and souls. Tanks fired at us like crazy, and the way Israeli snipers shot was just like hunting animals in the forest.

Dozens of people sacrificed their lives right before my eyes, but no one could save them.

Civil Defense Agency spokesperson Basar told AFP that the Israeli army opened fire on civilians waiting for aid, injuring dozens of people.

The Israeli military responded that its troops had fired warning shots at thousands of people in northern Gaza to eliminate the "direct threat". The statement said that the initial investigation results showed that the reported casualty figures were exaggerated and "definitely not intentionally targeted at humanitarian aid trucks".

The Israeli military insists that it is committed to avoiding civilian casualties and says it has issued new instructions to ground forces this month to "learn from a series of similar incidents".

The Israeli military also demanded on Sunday that residents and displaced Palestinians taking refuge in Deir al-Barah immediately move southward.

Israeli military Arab-language spokesperson Adre said on X that Israel is "expanding its activities against Hamas" in the area around Deir al-Barah, and "has never carried out operations there before."