Gaza’s Ministry of Health has reported that Israel’s military actions against Gaza have led to over 40,000 Palestinian deaths, including at least 16,456 children and more than 11,000 women. This grim statistic was released on Thursday, but experts caution that the actual number is likely underreported, as many of the 10,000 missing Palestinians are believed to be buried under rubble.
Immediately following the ministry’s announcement, a new round of ceasefire talks began in Doha, Qatar, aimed at ending the conflict. According to the United Nations (UN), Israel’s bombardment has damaged or destroyed two-thirds of the buildings in the Gaza Strip. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, emphasized the severity of the situation: “Today marks a grim milestone for the world. This unimaginable situation is primarily due to the repeated failure of the [Israeli military] to adhere to the laws of war.”
Al Jazeera reporter Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Deir el-Balah in Gaza, described the figure of 40,000 as a “very conservative estimate” of the number of victims. “There are still those who are missing and trapped under the rubble, who have not been identified, not been recovered, and have not been counted yet,” he stated.
Israel’s relentless offensive against Gaza, which has faced accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), has displaced more than 90% of Gaza’s population and created a humanitarian catastrophe exacerbated by Israel’s extensive denial of necessary humanitarian aid to Gaza. Despite the ICJ’s order for Israel to allow aid into Gaza, July marked the lowest period for humanitarian assistance since the war began in October 2023. The decrease in aid has drawn criticism from health organizations, warning of the spread of hunger and deadly diseases such as polio in the area.
Hanan Balkhy, regional director for the World Health Organization (WHO), stated: “We need a ceasefire, even a temporary one, to carry out these campaigns. Otherwise, we risk the virus spreading further, including across borders.” The death toll from the Ministry of Health is considered conservative, as a study published in the medical journal The Lancet in July estimates that the number could reach as high as 186,000, which would correspond to about 8% of Gaza’s total population.
During the conflict, Israeli forces have targeted schools, humanitarian workers, medical facilities, and UN shelters that have housed many displaced individuals. Israel claims that these facilities are used by Hamas for military purposes, but evidence for these assertions is often lacking.
The war has also proven to be the deadliest in modern history for journalists, with 113 media workers, 108 of whom were Palestinian, killed since the onset of the conflict. Despite Israel’s rejection of foreign journalists, Palestinian reporters have been compelled to document the conditions in Gaza under life-threatening circumstances.
The United States has played a central role in the conflict, with significant arms transfers supporting Israel’s campaign, despite reports of extensive violations of international law. Last week, the U.S. government announced the approval of an additional $20 billion in arms sales to Israel.
“There is such an erosion of the fundamental principles of international law,” said Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories. “This system was created after World War II to prevent and punish such atrocities, but it has failed,” she concluded.