Death toll nears 20,500 in Gaza as Israel accused of blocking aid
About 166 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours, increasing the total death toll in the enclave to 20,424, largely women and children, the Health Ministry reported on Sunday.
Another 384 Palestinians were injured, bringing the total number of injured to 54,036 persons, according to a ministry statement.
The soaring death toll follows attempts by Israel to obstruct the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2720 concerning the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Israel had turned the Gaza Strip into a “mass grave for civilians.”
The statement added that Israel’s raging attacks are a “defiance to the international public,” while pointing out “Israel’s intensification of attacks across all regions from the northern to the southern Gaza Strip, destruction of all settlement squares, and targeting of all components of human life in the northern Gaza Strip.”
The statement called for coordinated international efforts within the Security Council to bring an end to the war and an immediate cease-fire.
Israel launched attacks on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, leaving the enclave on its knees with nearly 2 million people displaced within the densely-populated territory amid shortages of food and clean water.
Around 1,200 Israelis were reported to have been killed in the Hamas attack.
