By Elham Asaad Buaras
London, (The Muslim News): At least 60 Palestinians were killed in the past 24 hours in Gaza, bringing the total number of deaths since October 2023 to 62,004, the Gaza Health Ministry reported on Monday. The ministry also said 344 people were injured in the past day, raising the total injuries to 156,230.
Among the dead, five were identified as victims of starvation and malnutrition, including two children, bringing Gaza’s famine-related death toll to 263, with 112 children affected.
Rescue teams continue to face challenges reaching victims trapped under rubble due to ongoing Israeli bombardment.
Since March 18, when Israel resumed its military campaign after breaking a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement, the Health Ministry reports that 10,460 Palestinians have been killed and 44,189 injured.
In the past 24 hours alone, 27 people were killed and 281 injured while trying to access humanitarian aid. Since May 27, a total of 1,965 Palestinians have been killed and 14,701 injured in similar attacks.
Fresh strikes on Monday resulted in 17 deaths, including a child. In eastern Gaza City, three people, including a girl, were killed when Israeli forces struck a building sheltering displaced civilians. Another building near Al-Shifa Hospital in western Gaza City was hit, injuring several. In western Gaza City, a Palestinian fisherman was killed and his brother injured when Israeli forces fired on their boat.
Israeli forces also demolished a home with booby traps while continuing artillery shelling in Zeitoun and Sabra neighbourhoods. In Nuseirat refugee camp, a woman’s body was transferred to Al-Awda Hospital after a strike injured several others. In Bureij refugee camp, three were killed when Israeli warplanes struck a civilian gathering.
Attacks on Palestinians attempting to access aid continued. Two were killed near the Netzarim Corridor while waiting for supplies, and another two were shot dead during a march in al-Shaaf, Gaza City. In Khan Younis, three people were killed and several injured near Morag and al-Tina Street, with a fourth person killed near Netzarim. An Israeli helicopter strike in Nuseirat killed a woman and wounded others.
Meanwhile, human rights group Amnesty International accused Israel of enacting a “deliberate policy” of starvation in Gaza, quoting displaced Palestinians and medical staff. The report stated: “It is the intended outcome of plans and policies that Israel has designed and implemented, over the past 22 months, to deliberately inflict on Palestinians in Gaza conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction, which is part and parcel of Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.”
The escalation in Gaza comes as Israel’s Security Cabinet last week endorsed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to fully reoccupy the territory.
Since October 2023, over 62,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza. The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant last November for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its actions.
Diplomatic tensions have risen internationally. Israel cancelled visas for Australian representatives to the Palestinian Authority after Australia recognised a Palestinian state and barred far-right Israeli politician Simcha Rotman, citing his support for displacing Palestinians.
Israeli forcibly displacing 7,000 Palestinians in West Bank
In the occupied West Bank, the Jerusalem Governor’s Office warned that a new Israeli settlement project will forcibly displace around 7,000 Palestinians. Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich approved plans for more than 6,900 settler units in and around Ma’ale Adumim, linking it to Jerusalem and disrupting Palestinian territorial continuity between Ramallah and Bethlehem. The plan would directly affect 22 Bedouin communities.
Tensions in he West Bank also escalated on Monday when Israeli forces detained Palestinian Culture Minister Imad Hamdan and members of his delegation during a visit to Kafr Ni’ma. The detention followed an assault by illegal Israeli settlers on ministry staff. Hamdan told Wafa that “the arrogant practices” by Israeli forces and settlers “will only strengthen our determination to support these youth initiatives and to continue cultural activities despite all the obstacles and challenges imposed by the occupation.”
In July, illegal settlers carried out 466 attacks against Palestinians and their property, resulting in four deaths and the forced displacement of two Bedouin communities comprising 50 families. Since October 2023, at least 1,014 Palestinians have been killed and over 7,000 injured in the West Bank by Israeli forces and illegal settlers.
In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal, demanding the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
[Photo: A woman, relative of the Palestinians who was killed by Israeli attacks on Gaza City, cries as the dead bodies were taken from the al-Shifa Hospital for burial in Gaza City, Gaza on August 19, 2025. Photojournalist: Saeed M. M. T. Jaras/AA]
