A displaced Palestinian man carries a girl while standing amid the debris of a building that was destroyed by an Israeli strike at Nuseirat refugee camp on 23 May 2026. [Getty]
Almost 900 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the “ceasefire” in October amid relentless Israeli attacks across the territory, according to local health ministry figures published Saturday.
This came as local media reported that another five civilians were killed in an Israeli drone strike in Gaza City.
The figures bring the overall death toll since 7 October 2023 to at least 72,793, with 172,779 others injured.
Israeli officials have in recent days threatened to launch a new military offensive amid deadlocked negotiations to permanently end the war.
Hamas has faced down pressure from the Trump-backed Board of Peace to unilaterally surrender its weapons, insisting that it will only enter talks when Israel complies with the ceasefire.
Israel has failed to stick to the agreement and has continued its almost daily attacks, assassinating Hamas leaders, killing civilians close to the yellow line, and demolishing infrastructure.
Israeli forces have slowly expanded their zone of control inside Gaza, and now occupy more than 60 percent of the territory, up from around half at the time of the truce.
Meanwhile, border authorities have continued to choke aid deliveries into the strip and have allowed on average only 120 trucks to cross the border per day, a fraction of the 600 specified in the agreement.
They have also continued to block entry of vital medicines and medical equipment, as well as thousands of essential items they claim could be used for military purposes.
Aid agencies have warned that the humanitarian crisis in the strip will further deteriorate in the coming weeks without a full resumption of aid.
Israel’s two-year offensive has left most of Gaza in ruins, forcing most of the population to live in displacement camps without access to healthcare or sanitation.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said this week that its medics are treating around 400 cases of skin infections every day as squalid conditions trigger a surge in rats and parasites.
Aid chiefs urged the Board of Peace this week to pressure Israel into upholding its commitments on aid under the truce.
“We need the Board of Peace to enable humanitarian organisations to do our jobs, and we cannot do it with the ongoing restrictions from the Israeli authorities,” Oxfam America president Abby Maxman told reporters on Thursday.
