Alwaght- Local health authorities in Gaza have confirmed that the death toll from the Israeli genocidal war since October 7 has risen to 31,553 reported Palestinian fatalities, mostly children and women, with an additional 73,546 individuals sustaining injuries.
Many people are still trapped under the rubble or scattered on the streets as Israeli occupation forces prevent the arrival of rescue crews to the targeted locations.
The Israeli regime has been unceasingly bombing civil areas across the besieged enclave and committing massacres.
A majority of the hospitals are not out of duty due to either devastation caused by aerial bombardment and the shelling or the lack of facility to treat the wounded.
The Israeli regime also has been denying the Palestinians food and even water that was cut off in the early days of war.
Three senior United Nations officials warned the Security Council on February 27 of imminent famine in the Gaza Strip, urging immediate action to avert humanitarian disaster in a territory where many Council members condemned Israeli use of hunger as a weapon of war.
The delegates at the UNSC told the body that bakeries and farms are now destroyed and children are eating animal fodder.
“Unfortunately, as grim as the picture we see today is, there is every possibility for further deterioration,” observed Ramesh Rajasingham, Director of Coordination at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. At least 576,000 people in Gaza – one-quarter of the population – are “one step away from famine”, he reported, adding that food-security experts warn of complete agricultural collapse in northern Gaza by May if conditions persist. Further, practically the entire population of the Strip is left to rely on woefully inadequate humanitarian food assistance to survive.
The rising toll comes amid reports that the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved a military plan to invade Rafah, the last shelter of 1.4 million displaced civilians.
Any attack on Rafah is likely to cause civilian casualties and worsen an already acute humanitarian crisis across Gaza.
Ceasefire efforts have so far failed to make any progress. Hamas says the Israeli regime needs to stop the war, lift the siege, and release Palestinian prisoners for a truce deal that would see release of Israeli prisoners held by the Palestinian resistance movement.
Hamas on Friday proposed a ceasefire deal to release Israeli prisoners for around 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including 100 serving life sentences.
Hamas suggested that a second stage would include releasing all detainees on both sides.
While announcing the decision to invade Rafah, Israeli PM rejected the proposal but said he sends his spy chief to Qatar on Sunday for negotiations.
