On 20 July, the Israeli army (IDF) killed 93 civilians in the Gaza Strip while receiving humanitarian aid.

This was announced by the Gaza Civil Defense Agency, after earlier stating that 73 were killed, AFP reported.

80 people were killed as aid trucks arrived in the northern part of the enclave, while 9 others were reportedly shot dead near an aid crossing near Rafah in the south of the country, where dozens of people lost their lives just 24 hours earlier.

Four were killed near another aid post in Khan Younis, also in the south of the country, agency spokesman Mahmoud Bassal said.

The U.N. World Food Program said its convoy of 25 food aid trucks "encountered huge crowds of hungry civilians who came under fire" near Gaza City shortly after crossing from Israel.

The Israeli military disputed the death toll and said soldiers fired warning shots "to remove the immediate threat that threatened them" as thousands of people gathered near Gaza City.

Deaths of civilians seeking aid have become a regular occurrence in Gaza, with authorities blaming Israeli fire as crowds facing chronic shortages of food and other necessities flock en masse to aid centres. 

Earlier this month, the UN reported that nearly 800 aid-seekers have been killed since the end of May, including along aid convoy routes. | BGNES