The ministry said in a statement that Gaza hospitals recorded "five deaths due to famine and malnutrition, all of them adults, in the past 24 hours." It continued, "This brings the total number of victims of famine and malnutrition to 180 martyrs, including 93 children."
The Ministry of Health also announced that the death toll from the Israeli aggression had risen to 60,199, stating that the toll included 18,430 children, 9,735 women, and 4,429 elderly people.
The ministry explained that women constituted 16.1% of the total victims, totaling approximately 9,735 martyrs. It also noted that the number of elderly people reached approximately 4,429 of the total victims, representing 7.3%.
Meanwhile, sources in Gaza hospitals confirmed that 34 Palestinians were killed by Israeli occupation forces since dawn on Monday, including 17 starving people searching for food.
In a related development, the Ministry of Health announced on Monday the deaths of three people, including two children with Guillain-Barré syndrome, due to the worsening of severe malnutrition caused by Israeli starvation and the lack of treatment due to the tightening of the blockade on the Gaza Strip. The ministry warned of a "real and potential contagious disaster."
54 missing at aid centers
In this context, the Addameer Foundation documented an increase in reports of missing persons at aid control centers run by the so-called American Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in the Gaza Strip.
Addameer said in a statement that 54 Palestinians remain missing in the vicinity of these detention centers, noting that the occupation forces are not allowing the bodies of those targeted there to be recovered.
Since the American company took over the management of the aid file, as part of a US-Israeli plan to restrict such aid, Israeli occupation forces and foreign contractors have committed massacres that have left more than 1,500 starving martyrs.
For its part, the Government Media Office in Gaza confirmed on Monday that only 80 aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip on Sunday, most of which were looted due to the security chaos perpetuated by the occupation.
The media office said in a statement via Telegram that the actual daily needs of the Gaza Strip are no less than 600 trucks of relief and fuel to meet the minimum requirements of life in the Strip.
Thirst and starvation
In the same context, the United Nations warned on Monday that the overwhelming majority of Gaza Strip residents lack access to drinking water and sanitation services, while starvation intensifies due to the occupation's blockade.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stressed that 96% of households in Gaza face water insecurity, 90% of the population lacks access to drinking water, and 3 out of 4 Gazans face difficulties in accessing toilets.
The UN office indicated that the specter of famine is looming over the population, in light of the near-total collapse of water and sanitation services.
Palestine calls on the Security Council to visit Gaza
On Monday, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on the UN Security Council to visit the Gaza Strip and impose an immediate halt to the war of extermination being perpetrated by Israel.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement: "We call on the UN Security Council to assume its responsibilities by imposing an immediate ceasefire and halting the crimes of genocide, displacement, and annexation against our people." It also called for "the adoption and implementation of the outcomes of the UN conference to resolve the Palestinian issue and implement the two-state solution," which was held a few days ago at UN headquarters in New York.
On Friday, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned that children in Gaza are dying at an "unprecedented" rate amid famine and deteriorating conditions resulting from the ongoing Israeli war.
According to World Food Programme estimates, a quarter of Palestinians in Gaza are facing famine-like conditions, with 100,000 children and women suffering from severe malnutrition.
Since the genocide began on October 7, 2023, Israel has been simultaneously committing a starvation crime against the Palestinians of Gaza. On March 2, it tightened its measures by closing all crossings to humanitarian, relief, and medical aid, causing famine to spread and reach "catastrophic" levels.
Despite Israel's "allowing" of dozens of humanitarian trucks into the Gaza Strip since August 27, which needs more than 600 trucks per day as a minimum to save lives, it has facilitated and provided protection for the theft, according to a statement from the government media office in Gaza.
The genocide, with American support, left more than 210,000 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.
