The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip announced on Thursday that the death toll from the Israeli genocide since October 2023 has risen to 70,373 martyrs and 171,079 wounded.
This came in the daily statistical report issued by the Ministry regarding "the number of martyrs and wounded as a result of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip," confirming that the sector's hospitals received 4 martyrs and 10 injuries during the past twenty-four hours, at a time when Israel continues to violate the ceasefire agreement by targeting civilian areas and shooting at Palestinians.
The ministry explained that the total number of victims since the ceasefire came into effect has reached 383 martyrs and 1002 wounded, in addition to the recovery of 627 bodies from under the rubble of destroyed buildings.
Buildings collapse due to rain
In a related context, three buildings collapsed on Thursday in different areas of Gaza City after heavy rains that began on Wednesday, according to eyewitnesses who confirmed that the buildings were housing displaced Palestinians due to the lack of alternative housing, with no injuries reported so far.
The Civil Defense warned of the risks of collapse of damaged and dilapidated buildings in which displaced families have taken refuge, amid the impact of a strong low-pressure system that is causing soil erosion and additional cracks in the walls and columns weakened by Israeli bombing.
Within 24 hours, the agency received more than 2,500 appeals from displaced people whose tents were flooded by rainwater, while thousands of tents in the sector were submerged as the storm intensified.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees ( UNRWA) expressed its deep concern about the catastrophic situation in Gaza as a result of Storm Byron.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in a post on the X platform that the storm is "tightening its grip on Gaza," adding: "Palestinians who have lost everything and need everything are facing a new wave of suffering."
He explained that “the agency’s teams – who are themselves displaced – continue to work despite the circumstances, and are responsible for pumping out sewage and floodwater, removing garbage, distributing winter clothes, blankets and tarpaulins, and providing medical care.”
"American statements about aid are misleading."
For its part, the Gaza government said that the statements of the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, regarding the entry of 600 aid trucks daily into the sector are “misleading” and do not reflect reality, explaining that the actual average does not exceed 234 trucks daily since the start of the ceasefire on October 10 .
Waltz claimed, in a post on the X company platform, that since the UN Security Council approved US President Donald Trump's peace plan, "more than 600 trucks carrying food, shelter, and medicine are not entering Gaza daily."
The government media office confirmed that the field figures "prove the existence of a clear methodology in obstructing the entry of aid," noting that the occupation is "economically strangling Gaza to keep it on the brink of famine."
The office added that during the 62 days of the ceasefire, only 14,534 trucks entered the sector out of the 37,200 that were supposed to enter, with a compliance rate of no more than 39%, considering that this "demonstrates Israel's policy of controlling the materials allowed to enter," as it allows goods of low nutritional value and prevents dozens of vital items.
The statement considered this behavior to be a "flagrant violation of international humanitarian law" and of the terms of the ceasefire agreement.
Despite the end of the war of extermination with the implementation of the ceasefire on October 10, the living conditions of Palestinians in Gaza have not improved due to the severe restrictions imposed by Israel on the entry of aid trucks, thus violating the humanitarian protocol of the agreement.
