Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Sunday that Israeli forces killed 64 Palestinians and wounded 278 over the previous 24-hour period as relentless US-backed Israeli attacks continue across the Strip.
The Health Ministry said that among the dead were 19 Palestinians who were killed while attempting to reach aid. Witnesses told The Associated Press that Israeli troops killed at least four people who were attempting to reach a distribution site run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) near the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza.
The Health Ministry said that since the GHF began operating at the end of May, at least 2,095 Palestinian aid seekers have been killed and 15,431have been wounded. The casualties include people attempting to reach GHF sites and UN and other aid trucks.
Israeli airstrikes also hit targets across Gaza on Sunday. According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, at least four people were killed when an Israeli drone struck a refugee camp west of the southern city of Khan Younis. Israeli shelling killed at least six people in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City, where the IDF has stepped up its attacks as it prepares to launch an offensive to take over the city and cleanse it of its Palestinian population.
The latest attacks on Gaza City come after the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) confirmed on Friday that famine was taking place in the Gaza Governorate, which includes Gaza City and nearby towns. The Health Ministry said on Sunday that it also recorded eight starvation deaths due to the US-backed Israeli blockade over the previous 24 hours.
“This brings the total number of victims of famine and malnutrition to 289, including 115 children,” the Health Ministry wrote on Telegram.
The ministry also said that its violent death toll since October 7, 2023, has reached 62,686, and the number of wounded has climbed to 157,951. Studies have found that the ministry’s numbers are likely a significant undercount.
