GAZA CITY, Palestine: Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 71 Palestinians in Gaza over the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry in the besieged territory said on Monday, as the death toll since the start of the war soared to 52,314.
In its latest daily report, Gaza’s Health Ministry said hospitals had recorded 71 fatalities, including 14 bodies recovered from under the rubble, and 153 injuries.
Since Israel launched its military offensive on 7 October 2023, at least 52,314 Palestinians have been killed and 17,792 injured, according to the ministry.
The ministry said at least 2,222 Palestinians have been killed since Israel resumed its offensive on 18 March after the collapse of a temporary ceasefire.
Medical officials reported that 36 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn on Monday, with the majority of casualties occurring in Gaza City and northern Gaza.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Civil Defence warned that a severe fuel shortage had crippled ambulance services in southern Gaza.
In a statement, it said only four of 12 ambulances remained operational due to the ongoing Israeli blockade on humanitarian aid, limiting emergency responses and “threatening the lives of hundreds of thousands of citizens and displaced persons”.
The Civil Defence held Israel responsible for the worsening humanitarian crisis in the territory.
Israeli strikes overnight into Monday killed at least 27 Palestinians, local health officials said. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
Israel has carried out daily airstrikes on Gaza since ending a temporary ceasefire with Hamas last month.
It has also blocked the import of essential goods, including food and medicine, since early March, saying the pressure is aimed at forcing Hamas to release hostages.
The ongoing bombardment and growing hunger have severely impacted Gaza’s most vulnerable residents, including pregnant women and children.
On Monday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) began hearings into Israel’s obligations to facilitate humanitarian aid to occupied territories.
Israel has accused the ICJ of bias, arguing that enough aid entered during the ceasefire period and alleging that Hamas diverted supplies.
Humanitarian organisations, however, report that supplies are critically low and that most people in Gaza survive on one meal or less per day.
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The United Nations has denied claims of significant aid diversion.
Among the latest attacks, an Israeli airstrike on a home in Beit Lahiya killed 10 people, including Abdel-Fattah Abu Mahadi, a Palestinian prisoner released during the earlier ceasefire, and several members of his family, according to the Indonesian Hospital.
In Gaza City, another airstrike killed seven people, including two women, while late on Sunday a strike in Khan Younis killed at least 10 people, among them five siblings aged as young as four years old, according to Nasser Hospital.
The Israeli military says it takes extensive measures to avoid civilian casualties and blames Hamas for operating within densely populated areas.
Palestinian officials argue that no area in the besieged Gaza Strip is safe from Israeli attacks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to continue the offensive until all hostages are returned and Hamas is dismantled or disarmed.
