Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Tuesday that Israeli forces killed 76 Palestinians and wounded 281 over the previous 24-hour period as relentless US-backed Israeli attacks continue across the Strip.
On top of the violent deaths, the Health Ministry said that it recorded another 13 starvation deaths, including three children, due to the Israeli siege. UN and US-backed food monitors have determined that famine is taking place in the Gaza Governorate and warn it will spread to central and southern Gaza by the end of September if conditions don’t change.
Israeli strikes on Tuesday included the bombing of Palestinians waiting for water in the al-Mawasi area of southern Gaza. According to Mahmoud Basal, spokesman for Gaza’s Civil Defense, five children were killed in the strike.
“They were standing in line to fill up water in the al-Mawasi area, which had been described as “safe,” when the occupation forces directly targeted them, turning their search for life into a new massacre,” Basal wrote on Telegram. Later reports said a total of 21 people, including seven children, were killed while waiting for water.
The massacre of children in al-Mawasi comes as the Israeli military is ordering Palestinian civilians in Gaza City to flee to the area. The IDF on Tuesday called up tens of thousands of reservists for the offensive to conquer Gaza City, and continued its heavy attacks on the city.
Medical sources told Al Jazeera that at least 42 people were killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza City on Tuesday. According to The Associated Press, one strike on a residential building in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood killed 15 Palestinians, including three children.
“We were sleeping safe and sound in our home, and then we suddenly woke up to the sound of banging and rising smoke,” Sana Drimli, a resident of the building, told AP. “We woke up to see what happened to us and check in on our children and discovered that everyone around us is dead.”
The Health Ministry said that the latest violence has brought its death toll since October 7, 2023, to 63,633, and the number of wounded has climbed to 160,914. Studies have found that the ministry’s numbers are likely a significant undercount.
