The Palestinian death toll from Israel’s Gaza genocide has risen to 72,267 since October 2023, the health authorities said.
A ministry statement said on Thursday that hospitals received two bodies and 17 wounded people over the past 24 hours, including one person who died of previous injuries.
According to the ministry, at least 691 people have been killed and 1,876 others wounded by Israeli fire since the ceasefire.
With the latest figures, the ministry said the total number of wounded since October 2023 has reached 171,976.
Heavy rains inundate shelters across Gaza
Amid the ongoing humanitarian strain, three Palestinians were injured in Gaza on Thursday as heavy rains inundated tents sheltering civilians displaced by the war, medical sources said.
The sources said a wall fell onto a tent on Al-Wehda Street in central Gaza City due to strong winds and heavy rains, injuring three people.
According to local sources, heavy rains flooded hundreds of tents and shelters, particularly in the western parts of Gaza City, worsening conditions for thousands of displaced families already facing severe shortages of basic resources.
Hossam Mhana, a spokesperson for Gaza Municipality, said the flooding exposed the fragility of displacement sites, which lack the capacity to withstand harsh weather.
He said destroyed infrastructure, especially drainage systems, caused water to accumulate in streets and seep into tents and shelters, while strong winds uprooted and damaged many of them.
Municipal crews are working around the clock with limited tools and resources to mitigate the impact of the storm, Mhana added.
He warned of deteriorating health and environmental conditions if the storm continues, particularly due to the mixing of rainwater with sewage in some areas.
About 1.9 million people in Gaza, out of a population of 2.4 million, remain displaced and live in harsh conditions in worn-out tents after their homes were destroyed during the war.
Israel escalates attacks in the occupied West Bank
The Israeli attacks continue beyond Gaza, as Israeli forces carried out raids in northern West Bank towns, wounding eight Palestinians, including members of an ambulance crew, Palestinian officials said.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said its teams in Tulkarem treated seven people injured in beatings during an attack by illegal Israeli settlers in the town of Ramin. Two of those injured were taken to a hospital for medical attention.
In the town of Huwara, south of Nablus, a 49-year-old Palestinian was shot in the foot during another attack, the organisation said.
Illegal Israeli settlers have escalated attacks against Palestinian towns and property across the occupied West Bank since the Gaza war in October 2023. Murders, arson, theft, and other crimes by the occupants, including incidents caught on camera, have gone almost entirely unpunished.
According to Palestinian figures, at least 1,133 Palestinians have been killed and about 11,700 others injured in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers in the occupied territory since October 8 2023.
Approximately 750,000 illegal Israeli settlers reside in hundreds of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, including 250,000 in East Jerusalem, and they perpetrate daily attacks against Palestinian civilians to forcibly displace them.
In a landmark opinion in July 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
