Twenty Dead as Aid Trucks Topple into Desperate Crowd in Gaza
August 6, 2025 — 4:10 PM GMT+1
A scramble for survival turned to tragedy in central Gaza when four aid trucks overturned onto a crowd, killing twenty people and injuring more than thirty, according to the Hamas-run Civil Defence agency.
The chaos unfolded southeast of Deir al-Balah on Tuesday evening. Witnesses say throngs surged toward the convoy, climbing atop the vehicles. Drivers, struggling to keep control on rugged, hazardous roads under Israeli military oversight, lost their grip.
Mahmoud Basal, spokesman for Gaza’s Civil Defence, said the territory’s private transport network – now filling a void in aid distribution – had brought in 26 commercial trucks that day. Six were looted. Four of those tipped over, leaving bodies and wreckage strewn across the dirt road.
Israel has recently authorised limited entry of goods via the private sector, aiming, it says, to “increase the volume of aid” and reduce reliance on the UN. Items on the approved list include baby formula, fresh produce, hygiene products, and other basic staples.
Hamas counters that civilians have waited weeks for supplies, crowding roadsides in desperation. “This often results in desperate swarming of the trucks,” its media office said.
The trucks are not just rushed – they are sometimes attacked. On Wednesday, Jordan accused Israeli settlers of ambushing a Gaza-bound convoy of 30 trucks. Stones shattered windscreens near the Zikim crossing, blocking the route. Jordanian government spokesman Mohammad al-Momani condemned the incident as the second such attack in days, calling for firm Israeli action against those obstructing humanitarian missions.
Meanwhile, the death toll from hunger rises. Gaza’s health ministry reported five more malnutrition-related deaths on Wednesday, lifting the wartime total to 193 – nearly half of them children. Aid agencies warn of mass starvation, accusing Israel of stifling relief flows.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denies any famine, insisting aid is not being blocked. Yet UN officials say access is sporadic, with many shipments looted before reaching intended recipients. The UN estimates Gaza needs 600 aid trucks a day; current averages hover around 85.
In northern Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital, medical staff confirmed the malnutrition deaths of a young girl, an infant, and an adult from Jabalia. “People are dying every day,” said Jens Laerke of the UN’s humanitarian office. “This is a crisis teetering on famine. Life-saving aid sits stranded at the borders.”
Elsewhere, Israeli airstrikes claimed more lives. Al-Awda Hospital reported five deaths, including a woman and two children, in a raid north of Nuseirat refugee camp. Four more were killed in Gaza City’s Shujayea neighbourhood when two homes were struck.
The war’s roots remain unshaken. Israel’s offensive began after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 assault on southern Israel, which left around 1,200 dead and 251 taken hostage. Since then, Gaza’s health ministry says at least 61,020 Palestinians have been killed.
For Gaza’s 2.1 million residents – 90% displaced and crammed into overcrowded shelters – the road to relief remains perilous, and sometimes deadly.