Israeli airstrikes have so far claimed the lives of at least 10,022 Palestinians, Gaza’s Ministry of Health has said.
It added that among the casualties, 4,104 were children, and 2,641 were women, While 2,200 more, including 2,150 children, are still trapped beneath the rubbles.
The Health Ministry also stated that the siege by Israel had deprived Palestinians of necessities such as fuel, food, and electricity.
“The number is expected to go up as at least 2,000 people remain under the rubble. The problem is, with lack of heavy equipment and machinery, the rescue teams on the ground are unable to remove and pull out these bodies from under the rubble,” it noted.
Ashraf al-Qudra, the ministry’s spokesperson, stated that Israel had carried out 18 attacks in the past hours, resulting in the deaths of 252 people, saying that since the war commenced on October 7, 25,408 people had been wounded, including at least 6,360 children and 4,891 women, adding that about 4,000 Palestinians had been detained in Israeli prisons since then.
The Ministry had previously disclosed that a child was killed and two others were injured every 10 minutes in Gaza.
On the other hand, the Israeli army had reported at least 1,430 casualties, including 341 soldiers and 58 police officers, with an additional 25 military officers killed since the ground invasion began. At least 5,600 persons have been injured, with 242 taken captive or still missing.
About 89 staff members of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) were among the casualties in Gaza, with many of them accompanied by their family members.
This was revealed by Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General, in a news briefing at the UN headquarters in New York yesterday, describing Gaza as “becoming a graveyard for children,” stating that hundreds of children were killed and injured daily.
“More journalists have reportedly been killed over a four-week period than in any conflict in at least three decades.
“More United Nations aid workers have been killed than in any comparable period in the history of our organization.
“I joined the UN family in mourning 89 of our UNRWA colleagues who have been killed in Gaza, many of them together with members of their families.
“They include teachers, school principals, doctors, engineers, guards, support staff and a young woman named Mai. Mai did not let her muscular dystrophy or wheelchair confine her dreams. She was a top student, became a software developer and devoted her skills to working on information technology for UNRWA”, Guterres stated.
