Death toll of Palestinians in Gaza Strip exceeds 17,000

News Desk :
The death toll of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip has risen to 17,177 since October 7, according to al Arabiya TV channel citing the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Report informs on Thursday.

“The death toll due to Israeli strikes on Gaza since the start of the war has increased to 17,177,” reads the statement, reports Al Jazeera.

On the morning of December 7, 2023, the Palestinian Ministry of Health released a chilling statistic: since the onset of the Israeli offensive on October 7, the number of Palestinian fatalities had surpassed 17,000.

This grim tally includes over 7,000 children, their lives snuffed out in the prime of their youth. In the past 24 hours alone, 350 Palestinian lives were extinguished, the latest victims of a conflict seemingly without end.

Alongside the mounting death toll, the Ministry’s report detailed a broader humanitarian crisis rapidly escalating in scope and severity.

More than 46,000 Palestinians have been injured since the conflict’s inception, the majority of which-60%-are in urgent need of medical transfer out of Gaza.

The situation is compounded by the fact that all hospitals in northern Gaza have ceased operations, a consequence of the relentless Israeli offensive.

Amidst the chaos, the Ministry also revealed that at least 7,600 people are currently unaccounted for.

The presumption is these missing individuals are trapped under the rubble of destroyed buildings, their fate uncertain.

The true death toll may be significantly higher than the reported figures, a sobering thought considering the already staggering numbers.

As if the situation were not dire enough, the United Nations World Food Programme has noted a sharp rise in hunger rates across the region.

A horrifying 97% of northern Gaza’s residents lack sufficient access to food, while a third of households in southern Gaza face acute starvation.

With the world watching, the Gaza strip is in the throes of a humanitarian catastrophe the likes of which have not been seen in recent history.