In a grim update, the Palestinian health ministry revealed today that a staggering 3,478 Palestinians have lost their lives, and 12,000 others have been wounded in Gaza due to Israeli strikes since the conflict erupted on 7 October.
The ministry also reported that the recent strike on the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza resulted in 471 martyrs, with 28 critical cases and 314 individuals sustaining various injuries.
Characterizing the attack on the hospital as a “deliberate” act, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki expressed these sentiments during an urgent meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Al-Maliki labeled the incident a “massacre” against unarmed civilians and asserted that Israel had previously shelled the hospital two days prior.
In a scathing condemnation, Al-Maliki accused Israel’s “war machine” of causing the deaths of more than 1,300 children in Gaza and displacing over one million people within a week. He criticized the international community for merely counting the number of victims in Gaza, emphasizing the urgent need to halt this “aggressive war.”
The dire situation in Gaza has prompted calls from various quarters for immediate intervention to bring an end to the violence and alleviate the suffering of the civilian population caught in the crossfire. The rising casualty numbers underscore the pressing need for urgent diplomatic efforts to address the escalating humanitarian crisis.