The Gaza Health Ministry reported on Monday that the death toll in Gaza has now surpassed 63,000, with over 160,000 others wounded since Israel's assault began on October 7, 2023. In the last 24 hours alone, Israeli airstrikes claimed the lives of 98 Palestinians and injured 404 more, intensifying the humanitarian crisis in the region. Since March 2023, at least 11,426 people have been killed, and 48,619 others have been injured in Gaza. Among the latest fatalities, 46 people were killed while attempting to receive food aid, bringing the total number of deaths linked to food distribution efforts to 2,294, with more than 16,800 injured. The devastating impact of the ongoing siege is further underscored by the nine new deaths from famine and malnutrition, including three children, raising the death toll from hunger to 348, of which 127 were children. Gaza's Health Ministry declared that famine was officially recognized in August, signaling the worsening conditions for civilians. The International Association of Genocide Scholars recently issued a statement recognizing that Israel's actions in Gaza meet the legal criteria for genocide, with 86% of its members endorsing the resolution. Gaza's Government Media Office hailed the decision as critical evidence for international courts, urging the global community to act immediately in the face of what they call an escalating atrocity. Global Response and Calls for Ceasefire In Israel, reports surfaced of a growing divide within the security cabinet regarding the release of Israeli captives held by Hamas. While several ministers pushed for a partial deal to secure the captives' release, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the idea, calling such a deal "unacceptable." Meanwhile, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, Saraya al-Quds, claimed responsibility for seizing an Israeli drone over Khan Younis and destroying an Israeli armored vehicle in southern Gaza. On the international stage, condemnation of Israel's actions is mounting. At a meeting in Kuwait, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) foreign ministers called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, denouncing Israel's actions as genocide and demanding unrestricted humanitarian access to Gaza. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in China, condemned the global inaction over Israel's "atrocities" and called for reform of the United Nations. Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar criticized the lack of European consensus on the issue, remarking, "The world judged the perpetrators of the Srebrenica massacre, yet we see those defending and accepting Israel's genocide in Gaza." Her comments reflect growing frustration over the failure to halt the violence in Gaza. In Italy, dockworkers at Genoa port threatened to halt shipments bound for Israel unless the Israeli government allowed humanitarian aid to reach Gaza. Meanwhile, organizers of the "Freedom Flotilla," which was carrying aid and activists—including Swedish climate advocate Greta Thunberg—reported that bad weather forced their boats to return to Barcelona. The flotilla had intended to deliver much-needed supplies to Gaza but was delayed by adverse sea conditions. Humanitarian Crisis Deepens The situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate, with more than 250 media outlets joining a campaign spearheaded by Reporters Without Borders and Avaaz to denounce the systematic targeting of Palestinian journalists by Israeli forces. According to the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, Israeli forces are destroying approximately 300 housing units daily in Gaza City and Jabalia using booby-trapped vehicles packed with explosives, a tactic described as an escalating effort to "wipe out the city" and force its residents into displacement. Gaza's Government Media Office also criticized the limited aid entering the enclave, reporting that only 534 aid trucks had been allowed into Gaza over five days, far fewer than the 3,000 trucks expected to provide essential supplies. The office described this as part of Israel's ongoing strategy to "engineer famine and chaos," compounding the suffering of the population. As the death toll continues to rise, the international community faces growing pressure to address the humanitarian disaster in Gaza and to take urgent action to halt the violence and provide life-saving aid to those in need.
