'Aren't we human beings?': Officials say 51 killed waiting for aid
At least 51 Palestinians lost their lives and over 200 were injured in the Gaza Strip while they gathered, hoping for United Nations and commercial trucks to bring crucial food supplies into the area, confirmed by Gaza’s Health Ministry and a nearby hospital.

Eyewitnesses in Palestine informed The Associated Press that Israeli forces conducted an airstrike on a house in the vicinity before firing at the crowd in the southern city of Khan Younis.

The Israeli military said soldiers had spotted a gathering near an aid truck that was stuck in Khan Younis, near where Israeli forces were operating.
Palestinian women mourn for the relatives killed in an Israeli strike, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

UN representatives highlight that military restrictions imposed by Israel, along with disorder and rampant looting, hamper the distribution of the aid that has been permitted entry by Israel.

Since October 2023, Israel’s military actions have resulted in the deaths of over 55,300 Palestinians, most of whom are women and children, as per the figures from Gaza’s Health Ministry. The data does not separate civilians from fighters.

Israel launched its campaign aiming to destroy Hamas after the group’s October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, in which militants killed around 1200 people, mostly civilians, and taking another 251 hostage.

The militants still hold 53 hostages, fewer than half of them alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.