Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Thursday that Israeli attacks have killed 71 Palestinians and wounded 339 over the previous 24-hour period as US-backed Israeli attacks continue across the Strip.
On top of the violent deaths, the Health Ministry said that it recorded another four starvation-related deaths amid the famine caused by the Israeli siege. “This brings the total number of victims of famine and malnutrition to 317, including 121 children,” the ministry wrote on Telegram.
Reports on Thursday said that Israel ramped up its bombardment of Gaza City as it moves forward with its plans to conquer the city. The Israeli offensive has focused on Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood, and satellite images show that the area has been turned into ruins in just a few weeks.
Gaza’s Civil Defense Agency told Al Jazeera that Israeli forces have demolished more than 1,500 homes in that short time. Israel’s plans for Gaza City involve the cleansing of the more than 1 million Palestinians sheltering there and the complete destruction of the city, similar to what the IDF has done to the southern city of Rafah and the areas to the north of Gaza City.
Israeli strikes hit other parts of Gaza on Thursday, including one bombing that killed a woman and her child in the southern city of Khan Younis. A doctor at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis told Reuters that dozens of Palestinians were admitted with gunshot wounds after they came under attack by Israeli forces when they were attempting to get aid.
The Health Ministry said that it recorded the killing of 22 aid seekers and the injury of 203 over the previous 24-hour period. Since the end of May, at least 2,180 aid seekers have been killed and more than 16,046 have been wounded, according to the ministry’s count.
The ministry also said that its violent death toll since October 7, 2023, has reached 62,895, and the number of wounded has climbed to 158,927. Studies have found that the ministry’s numbers are likely a significant undercount.
