The ministry stated in its report issued Tuesday that the total number of martyrs has reached 60,034, the majority of whom are children and women, since the start of the Israeli genocide on October 7, 2023. It noted that the number of injuries has risen to 145,870 since the start of the genocide.
She confirmed that a number of victims remain under the rubble, and that ambulance and civil defense crews are unable to reach them. She added that Gaza hospitals have received 113 martyrs in the past 24 hours, including one whose body was recovered, in addition to 637 injuries.
She continued: "The death toll and injuries since March 18, after the occupation violated the ceasefire agreement, has reached 8,867 martyrs and 33,829 injuries," noting that the total number of aid victims in the space of 24 hours reached 22 martyrs and more than 199 injuries, bringing the total number of livelihood victims who arrived at hospitals to 1,179 martyrs and more than 7,957 injuries.
In a separate statement, the Ministry of Health indicated that women and children constitute 47% of the total number of Palestinian martyrs since October 7, 2023, noting that the number of child martyrs reached 18,592, and the number of women reached 9,782.
The ministry emphasized that these statistics indicate that "children and women constitute more than 47% of the total number of martyrs, a clear indication of the direct targeting of civilians." At the same time, it confirmed that hundreds of bodies remain under the rubble, in areas difficult to access, as a result of Israeli bombardment.
She renewed her call to the international community and humanitarian and medical organizations to intervene urgently to halt the Israeli aggression and save the remaining innocent lives.
Meanwhile, 11 Palestinians were killed in two Israeli airstrikes targeting areas housing displaced persons in the Rafah and Khan Yunis governorates in the southern Gaza Strip.
Medical sources at Nasser Medical Complex reported that Israeli occupation forces opened fire on a gathering of Palestinians near humanitarian aid centers north of Rafah, killing seven civilians and wounding several others.
In another attack, Israeli warplanes targeted a tent housing displaced persons in the Al-Mawasi area west of Khan Yunis, killing four civilians, including two children, according to medical staff at the Nasser Medical Complex.
This escalation comes at a time when the Gaza Strip is facing an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, with famine and epidemics spreading, and the suffering of hundreds of thousands of displaced persons worsening amid international silence and inability to halt the ongoing aggression.
In this regard, the World Hunger Observatory issued a warning on Tuesday that famine is "looming" in the Gaza Strip, coinciding with mounting international criticism of Israel over the rapidly deteriorating situation there.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) warning stated that "a worst-case scenario of famine is currently unfolding in the Gaza Strip," adding that "growing evidence indicates that widespread hunger, malnutrition, and disease are leading to increased hunger-related deaths."
The warning does not officially classify Gaza as in a state of famine. Such a classification can only be reached through analysis, which the Integrated Phase Classification announced it will now conduct "without delay."
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) is a global initiative involving 21 relief organizations, international organizations, and United Nations agencies, which aims to assess the extent of hunger experienced by populations.
For an area to be classified as in famine, at least 20% of its population must suffer from severe food shortages, one in three children must suffer from acute malnutrition, and two people out of every 10,000 must die each day from hunger, malnutrition, or disease.
The Integrated Phase Classification warning stated, "Immediate action must be taken to end the fighting and allow for a large-scale, unhindered humanitarian response to save lives. This is the only way to prevent further deaths and end the catastrophic human suffering."
According to the warning, the latest data indicates that food consumption has reached famine levels in most parts of the Strip, which is still home to approximately 2.1 million people, with severe malnutrition in Gaza City.
"Official declarations of famine are always far from reality," International Rescue Committee President David Miliband said in a statement ahead of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) warning.
He continued: "By the time famine was declared in Somalia in 2011, 250,000 people, half of them children under the age of five, had died of starvation. When famine is declared, it is already too late."
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a genocidal war in Gaza, including killing, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement, ignoring all international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt it.
The US-backed genocide left more than 205,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 9,000 missing, in addition to hundreds of thousands of displaced persons and a famine that claimed the lives of many.
