Gaza death toll passes 66,100 as 2 more Palestinians die of Israel-induced starvation

At least 66,148 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip since October 2023, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

A ministry statement said that 51 bodies were brought to hospitals in the last 24 hours, while 180 people were injured, taking the number of injuries to 168,716 in the Israeli onslaught.

“Many victims are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added.

It also noted that four Palestinians were killed and 57 others injured by Israeli army fire while trying to get humanitarian aid in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of Palestinians killed while seeking aid to 2,580, with over 18,930 others wounded since May 27.

The Israeli army resumed its attacks on the Gaza Strip on March 18 and has since killed 13,280 people and injured 56,675 others, shattering a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold in January.

The ministry said two people, one of them a child, died of starvation in the last 24 hours, taking the famine-related death toll since October 2023 to 455 people, including 151 children.

According to the ministry, 177 people, including 36 children, have died of starvation since the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) declared famine in Gaza this August.

On Aug. 22, the IPC declared famine in Gaza City and warned it would spread to central and southern Gaza by the end of September.

Israel has kept all border crossings with Gaza closed since March 2, blocking humanitarian aid and pushing the enclave into famine despite relief trucks piling up at its borders.

Israel occasionally allows very limited amounts of aid to enter, but those shipments fall short of meeting basic needs and have not ended the famine. Most trucks have been looted by gangs that the Gaza administration accuses Israel of protecting.

The relentless Israeli bombardment of Gaza since October 2023 has rendered the enclave uninhabitable and led to starvation and the spread of diseases.