At least seven Palestinian civilians were martyred and dozens more wounded on Tuesday as the Israeli occupation army carried out fresh airstrikes on Khan Younis and the Al-Bureij refugee camp, amid an unrelenting campaign of mass killings and forced starvation across the besieged Gaza Strip.

In southern Gaza, three civilians were killed near the Abu Hamid roundabout in central Khan Younis during intense Israeli bombardment. Meanwhile, in Al-Bureij camp in central Gaza, an Israeli airstrike targeted a residential home belonging to the Abu Sel family in Block 12, killing two brothers, Bashar Kamal Abu Sel and Bayan Kamal Abu Sel, and injuring several others. The home was reduced to rubble in what local residents described as another deliberate massacre of civilians.

In a separate attack in northern Rafah, Mohammad Mazen Basala and Amer Sami Al-Sweirki were killed when Israeli forces opened fire near the Shakoush aid distribution point, where displaced Palestinians had gathered to receive limited humanitarian aid. Dozens were injured in the assault, which adds to a growing list of Israeli attacks targeting civilians waiting in line for food, water, and medical supplies.

Children Starve as Gaza’s Health System Collapses

The grim toll of the Israeli-imposed blockade continues to rise as famine tightens its grip on Gaza. Two children — Yousef Al-Safadi from northern Gaza and Abdul Hamid Al-Ghalban from Khan Younis — died of starvation and severe malnutrition, according to medical sources. Their deaths underscore the catastrophic humanitarian collapse across the enclave, where hospitals have been rendered nearly inoperable due to a total blockade of medical aid, fuel, and essential supplies.

Health officials also reported that 23 more people, including children, have died in the past 48 hours as a result of hunger-related complications, bringing the starvation death toll to alarming new levels. Physicians continue to warn of a full-scale famine-induced disaster, with children, the elderly, and the wounded most at risk.

Hospitals across the Strip are no longer able to cope, with doctors performing emergency procedures without anesthesia, treating the wounded in hallways, and watching helplessly as patients die due to lack of medication and food.

Gaza’s Civilian Death Toll Nears 60,000

According to the latest casualty figures from Gaza’s Health Ministry, the total number of martyrs since October 7, 2023, has now reached 59,029, with 142,135 injured. The overwhelming majority of the victims are women and children, targeted in homes, refugee camps, schools, and food lines.

Palestinian officials and human rights groups continue to accuse the Israeli occupation of engaging in a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing and starvation warfare, aimed at breaking the will of Gaza’s population by depriving them of the most basic elements of survival.

Despite growing international condemnation, Israel's relentless assault shows no signs of abating. The Gaza Strip, already decimated by nearly ten months of war, remains under siege, with entire neighborhoods flattened, families torn apart, and a generation of children left to suffer in silence.

Meanwhile, the international community faces mounting pressure to act, as calls for a complete ceasefire, lifting of the siege, and urgent humanitarian intervention grow louder. Yet for the people of Gaza, each passing hour brings more bloodshed, more hunger, and more names added to the ever-growing list of martyrs. (ILKHA)