At least 59 Palestinians were killed and over 220 wounded on Tuesday after Israeli tanks opened fire on a crowd waiting for humanitarian aid in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, according to Palestinian medics.

The attack marks one of the deadliest incidents since the negligible resumption of aid in the territory and further intensifies the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

Witnesses said the attack occurred as thousands of desperate residents had gathered along a main eastern road in Khan Younis, hoping to receive food from trucks that use the route. Video footage circulating online showed multiple mangled bodies strewn across the road, with blood-soaked scenes of civilians lying lifeless.

Witnesses describe chaos as shells fall overhead

Eyewitnesses reported that Israeli tanks launched at least two shells toward the crowd. One survivor, Alaa, recounted the horror from Nasser Hospital: "All of a sudden, they let us move forward and made everyone gather, and then shells started falling, tank shells," he told Reuters.

"No one is looking at these people with mercy. The people are dying, they are being torn apart, to get food for their children. Look at these people, all these people are torn to get flour to feed their children," he added.

Medics stated that 221 people were injured in the Khan Younis shelling, with at least 20 in critical condition. Victims were rushed to al-Nasser Hospital in civilian cars, rickshaws, and even donkey carts due to a lack of ambulances. The hospital, already under extreme strain, had patients lying on floors and in hallways due to overcrowding.

It was the highest single-day death toll since aid deliveries "resumed" in May.

Almost 400 murdered for wanting food

In addition to the Gaza aid convoy massacre, at least 14 other Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire and airstrikes elsewhere in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, bringing the total death toll for the day to at least 73.

According to the health ministry, 397 Palestinians attempting to access food aid have been killed and more than 3,000 injured since late May. The attack is the latest in a series of deadly incidents targeting civilians in Gaza, as "Israel" maintains its suffocating siege and continues its bloodthirsty assault.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has called for the immediate lifting of the blockade on the Gaza Strip, warning of a deepening famine and the starvation of civilians, including approximately one million children.

In a statement issued Sunday, UNRWA urged international intervention to allow food and medical aid into the Gaza Strip. The agency accused the Israeli occupation authorities of "starving civilians in Gaza," calling the situation a direct threat to life for the enclave’s population.

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues to escalate as the Ministry of Health reported the death of Razan Abu Zaher, an infant who died from severe malnutrition and a lack of milk. Her death brings the number of children who died from hunger-related causes brought on by "Israel's" blockade in the past 24 hours to four.