HEALTH officials in Gaza reported on Monday more than 24,000 deaths in the war with Israel which has sent shockwaves across the region, as the fighting passed the grim 100-day milestone.
Deadly violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and along Israel’s border with Lebanon as well as fighting between US forces and Iran-backed Yemeni rebels in the Red Sea have raised fears of an escalation beyond the Gaza Strip.
The war, sparked has created a humanitarian catastrophe for the 2.4 million people in the besieged strip, the United Nations and aid groups warn, and reduced much of the territory to rubble.
The health ministry in Gaza reported more than 60 “martyrs” and dozens more wounded overnight, in what the group’s media office described as “intense” Israeli bombardment across Gaza.
The Hamas government media office said two hospitals, a girls’ school and “dozens” of homes were hit overnight.
Hospitals in Gaza have been hit repeatedly since the war erupted, and the World Health Organization (WHO) says most of them are no longer functioning.
The latest strikes hit the southern cities of Khan Yunis and Rafah, as well as areas around Gaza City, the Hamas media office said.
The UN says more than three months of fighting have displaced roughly 85 percent of the territory’s population, crowded into shelters and struggling to get food, water, fuel and medical care.
“There’s no food, no water, no heating. We are dying from the cold,” said Mohammad Kahil, displaced from northern Gaza to Rafah, on the southern border with Egypt.
