GAZA CITY, Palestine: At least 42 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since the dawn on Monday, health authorities said.
The strikes come amid intensifying ground operations and growing international concern over the worsening humanitarian crisis in the enclave.
Medical workers in Gaza confirmed the rising toll as Israeli forces continued their aerial and ground assaults across various parts of the Strip.
The latest fatalities bring the total death toll since October 7, 2023 to 50,737. Over 115,300 others have been injured in the ongoing Israeli assault, the health ministry said.
The renewed Israeli attacks follows the collapse of a temporary ceasefire on 18 March and has sharply escalated in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, six United Nations agencies issued a joint statement on Sunday, calling for an immediate restoration of the ceasefire, citing severe shortages of food, medicine and fuel.
“More than 2.1 million people are trapped, bombed and starved again,” said the statement, co-signed by the heads of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the World Food Programme, and others.
Since 2 March, no humanitarian aid has been allowed into Gaza, as talks over a fresh truce and the release of remaining hostages have stalled.
Vital supplies, including food, shelter materials and medical equipment, are reportedly piling up at border crossings while civilians inside Gaza face deteriorating conditions.
The Health Ministry in Gaza accused Israel of preventing the entry of polio vaccines, which it said undermines months of effort to combat an epidemic.
On World Health Day, the ministry warned of rapidly declining sanitary conditions due to disrupted water systems and the continued blockade on aid. It reported rising cases of diarrhoea, skin diseases and malnutrition, particularly among children.
Since resuming its offensive last month, Israel has expanded its control over more than 50 percent of Gaza, displacing Palestinians into shrinking pockets of habitable land.
According to rights groups, vast areas near the border have been razed to create an expanded buffer zone, with farmland, homes and infrastructure deliberately destroyed.
Breaking The Silence, an Israeli veterans’ group, released a report on Monday documenting systematic destruction aimed at paving the way for long-term Israeli control.
“Through widespread, deliberate destruction, the military laid the groundwork for future Israeli control of the area,” the group said.
The Israeli military, responding to the report, said its actions are intended to protect Israeli communities and comply with international law. It denied intentionally targeting civilians.
