Palestinian death toll in Israel's 21-month genocidal war on Gaza has crossed the grim milestone of 60,000, with women and children making up around half the dead, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Tuesday.
The ministry confirmed that the death toll has climbed to 60,034, with another 145,870 people wounded since Israel launched the war in response to Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, incursion.
The ministry is staffed by medical professionals. The United Nations and other independent experts view its figures as the most reliable count of casualties.
Israel's offensive has destroyed vast areas of Gaza, displaced around 90% of the population and caused a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, with experts warning of famine.
As international organizations warn of a "worst-case scenario of famine," Israel continued to strike the Gaza Strip, killing at least 77 Palestinians in the past day, according to local hospitals.
More than half were killed while attempting to access aid, hospitals said, and include a rising toll from a deadly incident on Monday as people attempted to access aid from a truck convoy passing through the southern Gaza Strip.
Local hospitals said they received the bodies of an additional 33 people who were killed by gunfire around an aid convoy in southern Gaza on Monday, bringing the total from the single incident to 58. The Israeli military did not comment on the shooting.
Israel claims it only targets Palestinian resistance members and takes extraordinary measures to avoid harming civilians. It blames civilian deaths on Hamas because they operate in populated areas.
The military said it targeted Hamas military infrastructure over the past day, including rocket launchers, weapons storage facilities and tunnels.
An additional 14 Palestinians were killed while attempting to access aid near the American and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund site in central Gaza, according to local hospitals.
Neither GHF nor the Israeli military commented on the shooting. Israel's military has said in the past it only fires warning shots if troops feel threatened and GHF has said their contractors haven't fired at civilians.
Airstrikes also targeted tents hosting displaced people in the central city of Nuseirat, killing 30 people, including 12 children and 14 women, according to al-Awda hospital.
The strikes come as international organizations continue to warn about the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, which has teetered on the brink of famine for two years.
Recent developments have "dramatically worsened" the situation, according to a report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Tuesday rejected claims of "starvation policies" in Gaza and said the focus on starvation is a "distorted campaign of international pressure."
"This pressure is directly sabotaging the chances for a cease-fire and hostage deal, it is only pushing towards military escalation by hardening Hamas's stance," he claimed.
The U.S. and Israel have both recalled their negotiating teams over the past week as negotiations seem to have stalled.
The Hamas incursion caused 1,200 deaths and took another 251 hostages. They are still holding 50 captives, around 20 believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in cease-fires or other deals.
The war took a major turn in early March when Israel imposed a complete 2 1/2 month blockade, barring the entry of all food, medicine, fuel and other goods.
Weeks later, Israel ended a cease-fire with a surprise bombardment and began seizing large areas of Gaza, measures it said were aimed at pressuring Hamas to release more hostages.
At least 8,867 Palestinians have been killed since then.
Israel eased the blockade in May, but U.N. agencies say it hasn't allowed nearly enough aid to enter and that they have struggled to deliver it because of Israeli restrictions and the breakdown of law and order. An alternative Israeli-backed system run by an American contractor has been marred by violence and controversy.
Near-daily Israeli strikes have hit schools, shelters, hospitals and other civilian buildings, killing men, women and children. The military usually says it was targeting militants hiding out among civilians, while occasionally acknowledging mistakes.
Israel's offensive and its blockade have also gutted Gaza's health system, with several hospitals having shut down and others only partially functioning as they receive waves of war-wounded.
The hunger crisis has also taken its toll. The World Health Organization says more than 60 people have died this month from malnutrition-related causes, including 24 children under 5.
Overall, 88 children died of causes related to malnutrition since the start of the war and 58 adults died this month also malnutrition-related causes, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
During hunger crises, people can die from malnutrition or from common illnesses or injuries that the body is not strong enough to fight. The ministry doesn't include hunger-related deaths in its overall toll.
