At Least 91 People Killed Seeking Aid in Gaza as Trump Envoy Visits Israel

At least 91 people were killed and 600 wounded while waiting for aid in Gaza over a 24-hour period, as the US envoy, Steve Witkoff, visited Israel for ceasefire discussions.

- William Christou

On Wednesday night, crowds of hungry people had gathered at the Zikim crossing with Israel, waiting for trucks loaded with humanitarian aid to enter the besieged strip, when they were shot at. Al-Saraya field hospital said it had received more than 100 dead and wounded after the shooting, while the death toll was expected to rise, the Associated Press reported.

Yesterday morning, 19 people seeking aid were killed by Israeli soldiers outside aid distribution points in central Gaza and in Rafah in the south of the territory.

Gaza is in the throes of famine, according to an international authority on food insecurity, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). The Gaza health authority said seven children died of hunger on Wednesday, bringing the total number of malnutrition deaths to 154.

The World Health Organization said in a statement yesterday: "Dying of starvation is slow and painful. A starving child, among the most vulnerable, might cry constantly from pain until becoming too weak to even do that. If not urgently treated, a child with acute malnutrition will die."

The UN agency added that it would take "months, if not years" to reverse what it called a "man-made tragedy".