Israeli attacks kill 86 more Palestinians in Gaza

At least 86 Palestinians have been killed in a new wave of Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip, with a majority of the victims targeted while trying to collect desperately needed humanitarian aid, reports Al Jazeera.

According to local health officials and eyewitnesses, which began early Tuesday and continued into Wednesday (June 25), struck several aid distribution points and crowded civilian areas, leaving dozens of bodies scattered near food convoys.

Medical sources in Gaza said that at least 56 people were killed while waiting for or receiving aid. Among the dead, 27 were shot in the southern city of Rafah as they made their way toward an aid centre. Another 25 were killed in an airstrike along Salah al-Din Road, one of the main arteries used for humanitarian deliveries.

The latest attacks come amid a worsening humanitarian catastrophe in the besieged enclave, where food, medicine, and clean water have become nearly impossible to access.

At least 140 people were also wounded in the strikes, 62 of them in critical condition. Many of the injured were rushed to Al-Awda Hospital near the Nusairat refugee camp, where harrowing scenes unfolded. Footage verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad verification unit showed rows of bodies being carried in by hand and loaded onto stretchers stained with blood.

Similar scenes were reported at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, where overwhelmed doctors have called for urgent international medical assistance.

“This is not a battlefield. It’s a feeding line. People are being gunned down while trying to survive,” said Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City. “The emergency department at Al-Shifa Hospital was flooded with casualties. Many died before they could receive any care.”

Eyewitnesses described chaotic scenes, with tanks and drones firing on unarmed civilians without warning. “It was a well-planned massacre,” said Ahmed Halawa, a survivor of the Rafah attack. “We were running for our lives, but they kept firing.”

Some of the strikes occurred near aid distribution centres operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which the head of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has previously called “death traps” due to repeated targeting by Israeli forces.

The Israeli military said it is "reviewing the incidents" and claimed its forces had engaged "suspected targets" near the aid locations. However, humanitarian organisations have condemned the attacks as unjustified and indiscriminate.

"People are being killed just trying to get food," said UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric. "This militarisation in the name of aid violates every standard of international humanitarian law. It is a horrific reality."

Dujarric called on leaders on both sides to show "political courage" and end the bloodshed. "This massacre must stop immediately," he added.

According to Gaza's health authorities, the death toll from Israel's ongoing military campaign has now surpassed 56,000, with nearly 132,000 wounded since October.