Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Thursday that Israeli forces killed 84 Palestinians and wounded 338 over the previous 24-hour period as the IDF continues its major offensive in Gaza City and launches strikes elsewhere in the Strip.
On top of the violent deaths, the Health Ministry said that it recorded another three starvation deaths due to the Israeli siege, bringing the total number of deaths due to malnutrition to 370, including 131 children. US and UN-backed hunger monitors have determined that famine is taking place in the Gaza Governorate, which includes Gaza City, where the IDF is focusing its assault.
Medical sources told Al Jazeera that IDF attacks killed at least 39 Palestinians in Gaza City on Thursday. Residents told Reuters that Israeli ground and air attacks bombarded the neighborhoods of Shujaiyya, Sabra, and Zeitoun, destroying houses and tents.
“This time, I am not leaving my house. I want to die here. It doesn’t matter if we move out or stay. Tens of thousands of those who left their homes were killed by Israel too, so why bother?” Um Nader, a mother of five from Gaza City, told Reuters.
Israel’s plan is to forcibly displace 1 million Palestinian civilians from Gaza City under the threat of death, either through bombing or starvation. While telling Gaza City’s residents to head south, the Israeli military also continues to bomb central and southern Gaza and continues to kill Palestinians seeking aid in those areas.
According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, seven members of the same family were killed by an Israeli bombing of a tent in the central Nuseirat refugee camp. Hospital sources told Al Jazeera that at least nine aid seekers were killed in southern and central Gaza.
The Health Ministry said that its violent death toll since October 7, 2023, has reached 64,231, and the number of wounded has climbed to 161,583. The ministry said that it added 401 names to the list of dead after their deaths were confirmed. Studies have found that the ministry’s numbers are likely a significant undercount.
