The Health Ministry in Gaza announced on Wednesday that 76 people were killed and 298 others wounded in the past 24 hours by Israeli airstrikes, bringing the death toll since the resumption of military operations on 18 March to 11,050, with more than 46,800 wounded. Since the outbreak of the Israeli assault on Gaza on 7 October 2023, the overall toll has climbed to 62,895 fatalities and more than 158,900 injuries. The ministry also reported that 10 people, including two children, died in a single day from starvation and malnutrition, raising the cumulative number of deaths from hunger to 313, among them 119 children. At the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV issued what he described as a "strong appeal" to end the nearly two-year-old war, urging a permanent ceasefire, the release of detainees, and the safe entry of humanitarian aid. "This conflict has caused so much terror, destruction and death," he declared during his weekly address. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned the killing of journalists in Gaza, saying it "should shock the world." Spokesperson Thameen Al-Khaitan stated that two Israeli airstrikes struck the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, killing four journalists, including one woman. "Killing journalists in this way is shocking and unacceptable," he added. In Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's accusations that France was failing to combat antisemitism, calling the remarks "an insult to the entire country." Macron urged Netanyahu to halt what he described as a "deadly escape forward" in Gaza. Meanwhile, the commissioner of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) warned that "there is no safe place in Gaza," stressing that health workers, journalists, and aid staff had been killed in numbers not seen in recent conflicts. He cautioned that "hunger threatens all of Gaza's residents with a slow and silent death, or death while desperately searching for food." The Israeli military said in a statement that the evacuation of Gaza City was "inevitable," promising that families relocating south would receive greater access to humanitarian aid. However, Israel's Channel 14 reported that an internal army probe revealed the attack on the Nasser Medical Complex had been authorised by senior commanders, with orders eventually given to use a tank after earlier attempts failed.
