Seven children were killed on Sunday morning in the al-Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza while queuing to collect water at a distribution point. A missile, fired from an Israeli drone, struck a crowd of civilians gathered with jerry cans next to a tanker truck, according to eyewitnesses and emergency officials. The total number of people killed in the attack was ten, with sixteen others injured, including seven additional children.
The Israeli military acknowledged that it carried out the attack but denied that civilians were the intended target, instead blaming a “technical error” in an attempt to strike an Islamic Jihad militant. The munition, the Israel Defense Forces said, fell “dozens of metres from the target.” The military said the incident is under review and stated it works to “mitigate civilian harm as much as possible” and “regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians.”
Video footage from the scene shows wounded children lying on the ground among yellow water containers, while civilians rush to render aid. BBC Verify confirmed the footage’s authenticity and geolocated the strike to a road roughly 80 meters southwest of Nuseirat Junior High School, adjacent to a building listed online as a kindergarten. Satellite imagery taken three weeks prior showed a water tanker parked across the street. Though the footage could not determine what kind of munition hit the site or from which direction it was fired, there was no indication of military activity in the area at the time.
“Yet again we’re seeing horrific reports of the killing of seven children in Gaza, this time as they were waiting for water at a distribution site,” said Catherine Russell, executive director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). “This comes just days after several children and women were killed waiting for nutritional supplies. The Israeli authorities must urgently review the rules of engagement and ensure full compliance with international humanitarian law, notably the protection of civilians, including children. UNICEF calls for an immediate and lasting cease-fire, aid at scale, and release of hostages.”
The Gaza Government Media Office said Monday that Israeli forces have now killed more than 700 people in over 100 attacks on water distribution sites since October 2023. The same statement accused Israel of blocking 12 million liters of fuel per month from entering Gaza—described as the minimum needed to run water wells, sewage treatment, waste collection, and other essential services.
“The Gaza Strip is today witnessing a major crime of deprivation of water, perpetrated deliberately and systematically by the Israeli occupation, amidst complete international silence and the direct and indirect participation of European and Western countries implicated in supporting or complicit in the crime of genocide,” the media office stated.
Leading humanitarian organizations, including Oxfam and Human Rights Watch, have also accused Israel of using water as a weapon of war. The Israeli campaign has decimated Gaza’s fragile infrastructure, including wells, desalination plants, and pipelines. “There is simply not enough clean water to meet the needs of the population in Gaza,” the International Rescue Committee warned last week. “When clean water is unavailable, the consequences extend far beyond thirst; families are forced to rely on unsafe water sources for cooking, cleaning, and bathing, heightening the risk of disease outbreaks like skin conditions, diarrhea, and hepatitis. This compounds the burden on Gaza’s collapsing health system, particularly in overcrowded shelters with limited hygiene options.”
Water deprivation is not the only aspect of the crisis. The strike on the water site followed a series of deadly incidents at food distribution points. According to the United Nations, at least 798 civilians were killed at or near food aid sites in Gaza between May 27 and July 7. Of those deaths, 615 occurred in the vicinity of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) zones—distribution areas backed by both the United States and Israel and operated by private security contractors inside militarized zones in central and southern Gaza. Another 183 deaths occurred near UN or other humanitarian convoys.
“They have a choice between being shot or being fed,” said Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported that its field hospital in Rafah treated 132 people on Saturday with weapon-related injuries—31 of whom died. All responsive patients stated they had been attempting to access food aid. “The alarming frequency and scale of these mass casualty incidents underscore the horrific conditions civilians in Gaza are enduring,” the ICRC stated. Since the opening of new food sites on May 27, the field hospital has treated more than 3,400 patients with weapon injuries and recorded over 250 deaths—more than the hospital saw in all mass casualty events over the prior year combined.
In another incident on Saturday, 24 Palestinians were killed near an aid distribution site in southern Gaza, according to Nasser Hospital. Witnesses said Israeli forces opened fire as civilians approached the area. The Israeli military denied the report, claiming there were “no known injured individuals” from IDF fire at that location, though a military spokesperson did confirm that warning shots were fired to “disperse people who the IDF believed were a threat.”
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation dismissed the UN’s reported death tolls as “false and misleading,” arguing that not all deaths near GHF zones should be attributed to their operations. “100% of those casualties are being attributed to close proximity to GHF and that was not true,” said Johnnie Moore, head of the GHF.
Independent verification of events remains difficult. Israel continues to block international journalists, including from the BBC and other major outlets, from entering Gaza.
Since Israel launched its military campaign in response to the October 7 Hamas-led attack, which killed approximately 1,200 people and resulted in 251 hostages, the Palestinian death toll has soared. According to Gaza’s health ministry, at least 57,882 Palestinians have been killed since the war began. Nearly the entire population has been displaced multiple times. Over 90% of homes are estimated to be damaged or destroyed. Gaza’s healthcare, water, sanitation, and food systems have collapsed.
Fuel shortages are further compounding the humanitarian emergency. The United Nations reported that, for the first time in 130 days, Israel allowed 75,000 liters of fuel into Gaza this week—“far from enough to meet the daily needs of the population and vital civilian aid operations.” Nine UN agencies issued a warning on Saturday that Gaza’s fuel supply had reached “critical levels,” threatening the operation of hospitals, water and sanitation systems, and bakeries. “Hospitals are already going dark, maternity, neonatal and intensive care units are failing, and ambulances can no longer move,” the UN said.
As Israeli airstrikes across Gaza continue and infrastructure collapses under siege, humanitarian groups are calling for immediate action. “UNICEF calls for an immediate and lasting cease-fire, aid at scale, and release of hostages,” said Catherine Russell. The calls have so far gone unanswered.
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