Death in every corner: Gaza toll mounts as medical sector collapses
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Amid relentless Israeli strikes, Gaza’s health system has collapsed and aid deliveries are obstructed.
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Thick smoke and flames erupt from an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, on Sunday, June 1, 2025 (AP)
The Ministry of Health in Gaza has announced that the total number of Palestinians martyred since the outset of the Israeli aggression on October 7, 2023, has reached 54,677, with 125,530 others wounded.
In the past 24 hours, hospitals across the Gaza Strip have received 70 martyrs, including three bodies retrieved from under rubble, and 189 wounded, according to local health authorities.
From March 18, 2025, alone, 4,402 Palestinians have been killed and 13,489 have been wounded.
Many victims remain trapped under debris or in inaccessible areas due to ongoing strikes and the inability of ambulances and rescue crews to reach them.
The U.S. just voted to keep doing this to one million children in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/1v9SexcwyO
— Linda Mamoun (@mamoun_linda) June 4, 2025
Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported continued bombardment across the enclave: two Palestinians, including a pregnant woman, were killed in an airstrike on Jabalia al-Balad in the north, while two others, one inside a charity vehicle, were killed west of Khan Younis in the south.
Artillery shelling was also reported near the al-Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, and an airstrike near Al-Shifa Tower in Gaza City left multiple casualties.
Four more journalists killed in Israeli strike on Gaza hospital yard
Four journalists were killed and several others were wounded in an Israeli airstrike on the courtyard of Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City.
The journalists killed at the hospital site were identified as Suleiman Hajjaj and Ismail Bdah of Palestine Today TV, journalist Samir Rifai, and photojournalist Ahmad Qalja.
Journalist Imad Daloul, also of Palestine Today and a contributor to Al Mayadeen Net, was critically injured.
The Government Media Office in Gaza also announced that Yousef Nakhalah, a journalist at Watania News Agency, was killed on Saturday, May 31, 2025.
The Media Office strongly condemned the systematic targeting and killing of Palestinian journalists by Israeli forces. It urged the International Federation of Journalists, the Arab Journalists Union, and all press organizations worldwide to denounce the deliberate campaign against journalists and media workers in the Gaza Strip.
This raises the total number of Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023, to 226.
UN: Hospitals in North Gaza shut down as 'Israel' blocks Gaza aid access
The United Nations confirmed that no hospitals remain operational in North Gaza, attributing the collapse of the health system to the intensifying Israeli military offensive and repeated access denials that are stalling humanitarian aid.
“Our colleagues on the ground tell us that the latest figures indicate that in the past three weeks, more than 100,000 people were forced to flee in the governorates of North Gaza and Gaza alone,” said UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric during a press briefing.
Dujarric noted that healthcare partners are reporting that medical facilities have been “heavily impacted by the ongoing hostilities” and more are being forced to shut down each day.
He highlighted that on Monday, “the remaining staff and patients in the Indonesian Hospital, in North Gaza, were evacuated. As a result, not a single hospital remains functional in North Gaza.”
Aid delivery process hampered
Despite continued efforts to bring aid through the Karem Abu Salem crossing, the delivery process remains severely hampered. “Today, we submitted over 130 pre-cleared truckloads for a second and final Israeli clearance, but only 50 of them, which were carrying flour, were approved,” Dujarric said.
He added that “one attempt was denied access altogether, and another one did manage to retrieve just over a dozen truckloads.” Since the crossing’s reopening, fewer than 400 aid trucks have been retrieved.
UN teams also encountered six access denials on Monday alone, including efforts to deliver water and retrieve fuel.
Dujarric warned that Israeli restrictions “prevent us from carrying out interventions as critical as trucking water to those who need it.”
He also cited the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which cautioned that unless fuel stored inside Gaza, but locked in military or restricted zones, is made accessible, “more critical services will have to suspend operations soon.”
Laboratories, blood banks operating at just 40% capacity
Meanwhile, laboratories and blood banks are operating at just 40% capacity, with 60% of medical equipment reportedly destroyed. Hospital labs face a severe shortage of spare parts and maintenance, leaving medical teams without the tools needed to respond to the growing number of casualties. Health officials warn that without immediate international support, Gaza’s collapsing infrastructure will be unable to meet even the most basic medical needs.
