The death toll in the Gaza Strip has continued to rise, reaching at least 68,872 Palestinians killed since the beginning of Israel's military aggression in October 2023, according to medical sources.

The vast majority of the victims have been women and children, with at least 170,677 others wounded in what humanitarian organizations have decried as an unparalleled assault.

The ceasefire, which went into effect on October 11, has failed to fully halt the bloodshed or address the profound humanitarian crisis. Medical officials reported that four bodies were brought to the Strip's overwhelmed hospitals in the latest casualties. Among them were three individuals recently killed and one victim recovered from beneath the ruins of a bombed-out building.

This grim tally is understood to be a significant undercount, as an unknown number of victims remain trapped under vast fields of rubble. Ambulance and civil defense crews, operating with severe shortages of fuel and equipment, are often unable to reach them.

In the period since the truce began, the violence has claimed an additional 240 lives and injured 607 Palestinians. Rescue workers have also recovered the bodies of 511 individuals who perished in earlier attacks, their remains only now being found as crews gain limited access to previously inaccessible areas.

The ongoing casualties following the ceasefire have reinforced allegations from Palestinian authorities and international observers that the underlying structures of violence and siege remain intact, leaving Gaza's civilian population in a state of perpetual vulnerability and grief. (ILKHA)