Gaza death toll nears 40,000 amid mass starvation
Palestinians mourn a relative, killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at a hospital in Deir al-Balah on Saturday, July 27. Picture: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP
Almost 40,000 people have now been killed in Gaza, while almost 91,000 have been injured, according the data compiled by NGOs operating in the besieged region.
Many of those who remain are starving as Israel continues to block aid deliveries, they said.
Almost 500,000 people in Gaza are facing “catastrophic” levels of food insecurity, and water availability has plummeted by 94%.
On July 26, Israeli soldiers bombed the main source of drinking water in Rafah, the Tal Sultan Water Reservoir, in southern Gaza Strip.
The details are contained in a new Humanitarian Snapshot Report from NGOs operating in Gaza, including ActionAid.
The report, covering the period from July 13-29, details the escalating humanitarian crisis faced by the 2.1m Palestinians living in Gaza.
It also reveals that approximately 86% of Gaza is now under “evacuation orders", forcing Palestinians to seek shelter in the remaining 14% of the Gaza Strip.
The latest figures for those reported killed is 39,363, with thousands remaining buried under rubble, according to data from the ministry of health in Gaza.
And on July 27, an Israeli airstrike on a girl’s school in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza — where some 4,000 displaced Palestinian were sheltering — killed at least 30 people, including children.
Aid workers are also being killed, with major agencies like Unicef and Unrwa coming under fire.
On July 21, Israeli forces shot at a clearly marked UN convoy attempting to access Gaza City. The convoy had been coordinated and approved by the Israeli authorities.
On July 23, two clearly marked Unicef convoys were hit by live fire as they waited at a designated holding point in Wadi Gaza.
Between July 22-27, new " evacuation orders" issued by Israeli forces saw a mass exodus of some 200,000 people from central and eastern Khan Younis, and displaced a further 12,600 from camps in Deir al-Balah.
ActionAid Ireland CEO Karol Balfe described the latest statistics as devastating.
"We demand the immediate lifting of the blockade on Gaza, protection of humanitarian workers, and immediate access to essential supplies and services for the people of Gaza so we can properly support our partners who are — against all odds — still providing life-saving care amongst one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world," she said.
The lack of aid getting into Gaza — with the UN saying only 710 trucks have been allowed to enter so far this month, when Gaza needed at least 500 trucks of aid per day to meet people’s basic needs even before October 7 — is alarming, she added.
“20 trucks carrying ActionAid supplies, including period products and hygiene kits, have been stuck in Egypt for at least two months due to the backlog created by restrictions on entry points into Gaza, with efforts to coordinate entry still ongoing.
"These are among 1,500 UN or NGO Gaza-bound trucks currently waiting in Egypt," Ms Balfe said.
