Israeli strikes across Gaza killed at least 85 Palestinians on the event date, May 20, 2025, according to Palestinian health officials cited by AP, as Israel pressed ahead with a new military offensive and allowed a limited number of aid trucks into the enclave.
The AP report describes a territory under extreme strain. Israel had blocked food, medicine and fuel from entering Gaza for nearly three months before permitting a trickle of aid under heavy international pressure. Even then, the supplies had not yet reached many civilians. The United Nations said aid workers were still unable to move the deliveries to distribution points because of security concerns and Israeli military procedures that required trucks to be reloaded and cleared through a complicated process.
The article says strikes hit a family home and a school-turned-shelter, with the dead including women and children. It also says the humanitarian situation remained dire because food security experts had warned of famine risks if the blockade continued. Aid groups had already run out of food to distribute in many areas, and communal kitchens were nearing depletion.
The report’s details show how the military and aid tracks were moving in opposite directions. Israeli officials said dozens of trucks were allowed in, and the defense body COGAT said five trucks entered on Monday and 93 on Tuesday, while the U.N. confirmed only a few dozen reached Gaza that day. The limited flow was far below the roughly 600 trucks that entered daily during the latest ceasefire.
Netanyahu said he had agreed to the limited aid after pressure from allies who were alarmed by images of starvation. Even so, some of those same allies said the amount was still insufficient. The U.K. announced it was suspending free trade negotiations with Israel and imposing new sanctions linked to settlements in the occupied West Bank. Britain’s move came alongside criticism from France and Canada over Israel’s conduct in Gaza and the West Bank.
The AP story also captures the human scale of the crisis. In Gaza City, a charity group was distributing watery lentil soup. One woman told AP she had not seen bread for more than 10 days and could not afford rice or pasta. Those details illustrate why the aid question was central to the crisis, not a side issue.
The verified facts in the packet support a simple conclusion: the offensive intensified, civilian deaths mounted, and the first small wave of aid was moving too slowly to offset the collapse in living conditions.
