The World Food Programme (WFP) has denounced a deadly incident in northern Gaza where Israeli tanks and snipers opened fire on civilians surrounding a 25-truck humanitarian convoy, killing at least 79 people and injuring over 150 others.

The convoy had crossed the Zikim border point on Sunday morning, destined for starving communities in northern Gaza. As it approached, crowds of desperate civilians gathered to receive food, only to come under live fire from Israeli forces.

“This tragic incident occurred despite Israeli assurances that armed forces would not be present or engage along humanitarian routes,” the WFP stated, calling the attack “completely unacceptable” and warning that such violence jeopardizes all future aid operations.

The Gaza Health Ministry confirmed that the majority of victims were civilians seeking flour and basic supplies. Survivors described scenes of chaos, with tanks surrounding the crowd and gunfire raining down for nearly two hours.

In parallel, GHF aid sites in Rafah and Khan Younis were also targeted, leaving 13 more dead, bringing the total number of Palestinians killed near GHF distribution points since May to nearly 1,000.

The WFP emphasized that 90,000 women and children urgently need treatment for malnutrition, and nearly one in three Gazans has gone days without food.

The agency reiterated its call for a massive scale-up of food distributions, a long-overdue ceasefire, and safe, predictable access for humanitarian workers. Without these guarantees, “we cannot continue providing life-saving support across the Gaza Strip,” the WFP warned.

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