Israeli troops opened fire on crowds waiting for food deliveries in Gaza on Wednesday, killing at least 25 people and wounding dozens, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry and staff at Nasser and Awda hospitals that received the bodies. Witnesses said the shootings occurred as civilians tried to reach two Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution points in the Teina and Netzarim corridor areas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a televised interview aired the previous day, said Israel would “allow” Palestinians to leave Gaza as the army prepares a new ground push into densely populated neighborhoods including Gaza City. He described the departure as voluntary migration, while critics warned the stance risks amounting to forced displacement. The bloodshed at aid queues underscores a broader humanitarian crisis. The UN Human Rights Office estimates that at least 1,760 Palestinians have been killed while seeking assistance since late May, most of them by Israeli fire. Overall war deaths in the enclave have exceeded 61,700, the Gaza Health Ministry says, with starvation and malnutrition also rising as Israeli restrictions continue to curtail supplies. Diplomatic efforts have yet to ease the fighting. Egyptian mediators reconvened cease-fire talks in Cairo this week with Hamas officials, but Israel has withheld its negotiating team. Netanyahu insists any deal must secure the return of roughly 50 hostages still held in Gaza and says the military will widen operations if no agreement is reached.