People in Deir al-Balah are told to leave, as the IDF prepares to launch its first ground offensive in the city during its war against Hamas.

At least 67 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire on Sunday while waiting for UN aid trucks in northern Gaza, the Palestinian health ministry said. Starving Palestinians were waiting for humanitarian aid in al-Sudaniya, northwest of Gaza City, when Israeli forces opened fire.

Further to the south, the Israeli military ordered Palestinians to leave Deir el-Balah, in the centre of the Strip, before launching its first operations against Hamas militants in the area.

Witnesses and Gaza hospital officials say Israeli troops have killed at least 32 Palestinians near aid distribution hubs in the latest deadly violence around people seeking desperately needed food.

Sunday's escalation adds to the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. On Saturday alone, Israeli airstrikes and gunfire killed over 130 Palestinians throughout the territory, including 38 individuals who were awaiting humanitarian aid and three children who succumbed to severe malnutrition, according to official Palestinian sources.

DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli troops opened fire Saturday toward crowds of Palestinians seeking food from distribution hubs run by a U.S.-, Israeli-backed group in southern Gaza, killing at least 32 people, according to witnesses and hospital officials.

Top church leaders in Jerusalem headed into Gaza Friday in a rare solidarity visit to the territory one day after an Israeli shell slammed into its only Catholic church, killing three people.

Suspects were identified approaching IDF soldiers operating in the Rafah area in Gaza on Friday night, leading soldiers to fire warning shots to disperse them, the military said.

Amid mounting international concern, leaders across the globe condemned the July 17 attack on the Holy Family Parish in Gaza City.