Heartbreaking images as Gaza families mourn people killed queuing for aid

A distraught woman is pictured hugging a dead body while other images vividly show the pain and grief on the faces of children after Israeli attacks on people in Gaza seeking aid.

Gaza saw its deadliest day yet for aid-seekers in over 21 months of war as at least 85 Palestinians were killed while trying to reach food last Sunday, the territory’s Health Ministry said. The largest death toll was in devastated northern Gaza, where living conditions are especially dire. There were 79 Palestinians killed while trying to reach aid entering through the Zikim crossing with Israel, Zaher al-Waheidi, head of the Health Ministry’s records department.

And stark images now show relatives with the grief written across their faces after the bodies of people killed in the Zikim area have been brought to al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza city today.

READ MORE: Heartbreaking images of Gaza kids on brink of death can no longer be ignored

READ MORE: BBC in urgent plea for journalists' lives as they face starving to death in Gaza

A crying woman lying down had her arms around a body that had been laid out on the floor. She pressed her head against theirs with the victim wrapped up in cloth.

Another photo showed a boy in tears while he crushed down amidst rubble and had his hand to his head. A woman sitting next to him had an expression of simple disbelief as she held her hands out.

And a woman in a crowd was being held back as she cried and tried to reach forward, while the looks of helplessness and suffering was summed up by a sobbing child holding onto a railing and being held by a woman.

The UN World Food Programme said 25 trucks with aid had entered for “starving communities” when it encountered massive crowds last Sunday in Zikim.

A UN official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to comment on the incident to the media, said Israeli forces opened fire toward crowds who tried to take food from the convoy and people were seen running as automatic gunfire was heard.

“Suddenly, tanks surrounded us and trapped us as gunshots and strikes rained down. We were trapped for around two hours,” said Ehab Al-Zei, who had been waiting for flour and said he hadn’t eaten bread in 15 days. He spoke over the din of people carrying the dead and wounded. ”I will never go back again. Let us die of hunger, it’s better.”

Nafiz Al-Najjar, who was injured, said tanks and drones targeted people “randomly” and he saw his cousin and others shot dead.

Israel’s military said soldiers shot at a gathering of thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza who posed a threat, and it was aware of some casualties. But it said the numbers reported by officials in Gaza were far higher than its initial investigation found. It accused Hamas militants of creating chaos. More than 150 people were wounded, some in critical condition, hospitals said.

Meanwhile, Al-Waheidi said Israeli gunfire killed another six Palestinians in the Shakoush area, hundreds of yards north of a hub of the recently created Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US- and Israel-backed group, in the southern city of Rafah. The GHF said it was not aware of any incident near its site. Witnesses and health workers say several hundred people have been killed by Israeli fire while trying to access the group’s aid distribution sites.

The UN and experts say that Palestinians in Gaza are at risk of famine, with reports of increasing numbers of people dying from causes related to malnutrition as the conflict in Gaza continues. It began when Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the October 7 attack and abducted 251 hostages.

A further 25 people were killed by Israeli airstrikes and gunshots overnight, according to health officials and the ambulance service on Saturday, as ceasefire talks appear to have stalled and Palestinians in Gaza face famine.

The majority of victims were killed by gunfire as they waited for aid trucks close to the Zikim crossing with Israel, said staff at Shifa hospital, where the bodies were brought.

Israel’s army didn’t respond to request for comments about the latest shootings. Those killed in strikes include four people in an apartment building in Gaza City among others, hospital staff and the ambulance service said. On Thursday Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said at least 59,586 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip since October 2023.