The Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip announced on Wednesday that the death toll from the Israeli genocide has risen to "50,423 martyrs and 114,638 injuries" since October 7, 2023.
The ministry said in a daily statistical report: "24 martyrs and 55 injuries arrived at Gaza Strip hospitals in the past 24 hours," adding that "the death toll and injuries since (the resumption of the genocide on) March 18, 2025, has reached 1,066 martyrs and 2,597 injuries."
She stressed that "a number of victims are still under the rubble and on the streets, and ambulance and civil defense crews cannot reach them."
In a related development , eight Palestinian farmers were killed on Wednesday in an Israeli airstrike targeting them while working in a field in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip. This attack is part of the genocide being perpetrated by Tel Aviv with American support.
Medical sources reported that the Gaza European Hospital received the bodies of eight Palestinians killed by Israeli shelling in the Al-Salam neighborhood, southeast of Khan Yunis.
Eyewitnesses said the victims were working on farmland when Israeli aircraft targeted them, leading to their deaths.
Jabalia massacre
In the same context, the Government Media Office in the Gaza Strip announced on Wednesday that the death toll from the Israeli bombing that targeted a clinic affiliated with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Jabalia camp had risen to 22, including 16 children, a woman, and an elderly person.
The office said in a statement: "In a new war crime added to the record of the Israeli occupation, a horrific massacre was committed against innocent displaced persons in a UNRWA clinic in Jabalia camp, resulting in the deaths of 22 martyrs, including 16 children, a woman, and an elderly person, and the injury of many others, some of whom were in critical condition."
He added, "We condemn this barbaric aggression that deliberately targets medical facilities and humanitarian shelters. The number of displacement centers and shelters targeted by the occupation has reached 228, in flagrant violation of all international conventions that guarantee the protection of civilians during conflict."
On Wednesday, the Israeli military admitted to bombing a UNRWA clinic housing displaced persons in the Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip. In a statement on the X platform, the military claimed that "Hamas members were hiding inside and that it was being used as a central meeting place," as it put it. However, the clinic was housing hundreds of displaced civilians, most of them children and women.
The statement also claimed that "the clinic was used by the Jabalia Brigade to advance plots against Israeli citizens and army forces," without providing evidence.
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to escalate the genocide in the Gaza Strip and implement US President Donald Trump's plan to displace Palestinians.
Since resuming its genocide in Gaza on March 18, Israel has killed 1,042 Palestinians and injured 2,542 others, most of them children and women, as of Tuesday noon, according to the Gaza Strip's Ministry of Health.
Gaza is starving: bread crisis and warnings of imminent famine
The Gaza Strip is facing a deepening humanitarian catastrophe as the Israeli blockade enters its first month. All bakeries supported by the World Food Programme have ceased operations due to the depletion of flour and diesel supplies, while the crossings remain closed to humanitarian aid.
The bakery closures came days after the World Food Programme warned of the risk of severe hunger and malnutrition threatening thousands of Palestinians, given the severe shortage of food supplies in the Gaza Strip.
The UN program supports 25 bakeries across Gaza. In a statement issued Tuesday, it renewed its commitment to "staying and operating in Gaza," but warned that "the lack of humanitarian aid since March 2 has led to supplies running out."
He added, "All available stocks have been distributed to families, and there are no more goods available for distribution."
These bakeries offer bread at symbolic prices, not exceeding 2 shekels per bundle (approximately 2 kg containing 23-24 loaves), making them a primary refuge for Palestinians, especially the displaced, whose homes and livelihoods have been destroyed by the ongoing war since October 7, 2023, and the majority of whom have been rendered impoverished, according to data from the Palestinian Central Bank.
With bakeries shut down, Gazans, who had already entered the first phase of famine over the past month, are increasingly concerned about families' ability to provide bread for their children, amid a near-total absence of food aid.
According to the World Food Programme, restarting bakeries requires the provision of more than 306,000 kilograms of wheat flour daily, in addition to yeast, sugar, and salt.
On March 2, the occupation authorities completely closed Gaza's crossings, leading to a serious and unprecedented deterioration in the humanitarian situation, according to local and human rights reports.
Human rights and international organizations have repeatedly warned of the repercussions of the continued blockade, noting that the people of Gaza are effectively on the verge of a real famine that threatens their lives and dignity.
Warnings of worsening hunger in Gaza
Abdul Nasser Al-Ajrami, head of the Gaza Bakeries Association (a non-governmental organization), announced that all bakeries supported by the World Food Programme (WFP) have completely ceased operations since Monday and Tuesday due to the complete depletion of flour, sugar, salt, yeast, and diesel supplies, amid the continued closure of the crossings.
Al-Ajrami confirmed that the World Food Programme is the sole entity responsible for the project to rehabilitate and operate bakeries in the Strip, explaining that the programme informed them that the closure would remain in place until the crossings are reopened and the flow of food supplies resumes.
He explained that approximately 70% of Gaza's population relied on subsidized bakeries, where they obtained bread at symbolic prices not exceeding 2 shekels, given the deteriorating economic and humanitarian conditions resulting from the ongoing war.
He also pointed out that 30% of the bakeries' production was distributed free of charge to displaced persons in shelter centers and camps, which contributed to alleviating the suffering of thousands of families.
Al-Ajrami emphasized that the only solution to avert an imminent humanitarian catastrophe is to urgently open the crossings, warning of the dangerous levels of hunger that Gaza's population could reach if the current situation persists without effective international intervention.
Palestinian Aline Qaddum says she spent long hours since morning searching for a functioning bakery to provide bread for her family, to no avail.
She added, "We fear that we will return to the famine we experienced recently, especially with basic commodities running out in the markets and our inability to provide food."
Qudum expressed deep concern about the options available to Gaza families, given the sharp rise in flour prices and its scarcity, stressing that many are no longer able to meet their daily needs.
She called on Arab and Islamic countries to intervene immediately and pressure Israel to stop the war and open the crossings to save what remains of life in the Gaza Strip.
Raneen Al-Saloot, for her part, said that the people of Gaza are effectively facing famine, in addition to the ongoing bombardment
and its disastrous consequences. She explained that the displaced are suffering from complex crises: from the loss of homes and property to the lack of fuel, which has forced many to cook over open fires, causing the spread of respiratory diseases, to the current crisis represented by the closure of crossings and the prevention of aid entry.
She called for the need to open the crossings and protect the Palestinians of Gaza from this impending catastrophe, the price of which will be primarily paid by children and women.
Palestinian Naama Nasir shares her predecessors' fears of famine, saying, "We used to live on grass (mallow) for six months straight."
She added that, given these harsh conditions, which coincide with her recent displacement from the town of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip, she fears the return of famine.
She said she went out with her three daughters to the market in search of working bakeries to buy bread, but she did not find any.
Gaza is on the brink of disaster: no shelter, no bread, no prospect of survival.
Palestinians in Gaza confirm that the humanitarian situation has reached a catastrophic level, exacerbated by the closure of bakeries supported by the World Food Programme, amid the continued closure of crossings and the prevention of the entry of essential supplies.
Ismail Abu Jarad, a displaced person from the town of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip, said he and his family were forced to move to western Gaza City in search of shelter, but to no avail.
"We couldn't find a place to stay, so we decided to stay in the street," Abu Jarad said with regret. "The hardest thing we face is hunger and living in the open. I can't feed my children or care for my sick mother, and that's what hurts me the most."
Abu Jarad called for immediate permission for the entry of flour and essential supplies, warning that the starvation policy has become a deadly tool used against Palestinians.
For his part, Amin Abu Al-Aish said that Gaza residents are now deprived of the most basic necessities of daily life, noting that the disaster has reached "unbearable" levels after the bakeries shut down.
He added that the sudden closure decision had shocked people, who were no longer able to secure a loaf of bread or other food supplies, given the severe shortages in the markets and the lack of any solutions.
Abu Al-Aish called on the United Nations and humanitarian and human rights organizations to take urgent action to save Gaza from an unprecedented humanitarian disaster that threatens the lives of millions.
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to escalate the genocide in the Gaza Strip and implement US President Donald Trump's plan to displace Palestinians.