The Israeli genocidal war on Gaza has pushed the death toll to at least 66,148 Palestinians, the majority women and children, since the beginning of the aggression in October 2023, according to medical sources in the besieged enclave.

The Gaza Ministry of Health confirmed that 168,716 people have been wounded, many suffering life-altering injuries. However, the actual figures are feared to be far higher, as thousands of victims remain buried under rubble with ambulance and rescue crews unable to reach them due to ongoing bombardment and destroyed infrastructure.

In just the past 24 hours, hospitals in Gaza received 51 bodies and 180 injured individuals following intensified airstrikes and artillery attacks. Among the latest victims were four civilians killed and 57 others injured while desperately trying to collect humanitarian aid, in yet another massacre targeting aid seekers.

The ministry stressed that 2,580 Palestinians have been killed and more than 18,930 injured during aid-related attacks alone, as Israeli forces repeatedly target distribution points where hungry and displaced families gather in search of food.

Palestinian officials and human rights groups describe Israel’s strategy as a deliberate war of starvation, designed to break the will of the civilian population by depriving them of food, water, and medicine. “This is collective punishment and a war crime,” one Gaza medic said, noting that most of the wounded arriving at hospitals are malnourished and children show signs of severe hunger.

More than two years into the genocide, Gaza’s healthcare system is on the verge of total collapse. With hospitals bombed, medical supplies exhausted, and electricity almost non-existent, doctors are forced to perform surgeries without anesthesia and treat multiple patients on the same bed.

Observers underline that the staggering toll underscores Israel’s systematic targeting of civilians and the international community’s failure to stop the bloodshed. Calls are growing across the Muslim world and beyond for urgent accountability and an end to what Palestinians describe as the “world’s most live-streamed genocide.” (ILKHA)