The Gaza Strip has witnessed another devastating day of bloodshed as the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced on Saturday that 88 Palestinians were killed and 422 others were wounded within 24 hours, amid a continued Israeli onslaught that began on October 7, 2023.

Rescue teams warn that the actual number of casualties may be even higher, as many victims remain trapped beneath debris or in areas unreachable due to heavy bombing and the collapse of civil infrastructure.

According to the latest data from the Health Ministry, the total death toll since the start of the war has reached 56,500, with 133,419 wounded, most of them women and children. Since March 18, 2025, when the Israeli occupation resumed its aggression on Gaza following a short-lived ceasefire, the toll stands at 6,175 killed and 21,378 injured.

Among the victims are Palestinians killed while seeking humanitarian aid. In the past 24 hours, 18 aid-seekers were confirmed dead, and over 41 others wounded, bringing the total number of slain aid-seekers to 583, with more than 4,186 injured since the war began.

Mass evacuation threats in northern Gaza

In a new escalation, the Israeli occupation forces issued evacuation threats for 17 areas in northern Gaza, demanding that civilians move to al-Mawasi in the south, an already overcrowded and closed zone. Among the targeted areas is al-Sabra, a densely populated neighborhood in central Gaza City. 

This area, previously considered a temporary safe zone near the Tel al-Hawa district, has now also been targeted by airstrikes, further narrowing what little space civilians have left to seek refuge. 

An Al Mayadeen correspondent reports that these evacuation directives effectively strip away the notion of “safe zones” and underscore the growing impossibility for civilians to find safety anywhere in Gaza.

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Simultaneously, Israeli warplanes launched relentless attacks on Gaza City and Khan Younis, killing at least seven Palestinians and wounding dozens. The airstrikes targeted residential zones and shelter sites in the north and south of the blockaded strip. 

In Jabalia, intense aerial bombardment struck densely populated neighborhoods, while artillery barrages hit eastern areas of the town. In al-Zeitoun, two children were killed when their home was bombed near the Daloul fuel station.

Israeli strikes also pounded neighborhoods in al-Shujaiya, al-Tuffah, and parts of eastern Gaza City, as well as homes in al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza. In Khan Younis, five civilians were killed when a displacement tent near Bir Zannoun and al-Sha’er was targeted.

The occupation forces continued demolishing residential buildings in the city center and resumed artillery shelling on al-Mawasi, Rafah, disregarding their prior classification of it as a “safe zone.”

Gaza aid distribution site attacked

Al Mayadeen's correspondent further reported that four Palestinians were killed, and over 25 others injured, when occupation forces opened fire near a humanitarian aid distribution point in the al-Shakoush area, northwest of Rafah.

Gaza’s Civil Defense spokesperson, Mahmoud Basal, stated that many critically injured individuals are dying upon arrival at hospitals due to a complete collapse of the healthcare system and the blockade on essential medical supplies.

The Director-General of al-Shifa Medical Complex sounded the alarm over a rising famine among children. “More than 66 children have died from hunger,” he said, warning of a worsening health disaster as Gaza’s youngest suffer from malnutrition, weakened immunity, and lack of clean water.

Gaza health system facing deliberate destruction

The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, Tlaleng Mofokeng, has warned that the health system in the Gaza Strip is facing a “systematic and deliberate assault” by the Israeli occupation, as part of a broader campaign undermining the right to life and basic human dignity.

In an exclusive interview with Al Mayadeen, Mofokeng stated that “the right to life no longer exists in Gaza” and that “the chance of survival has become non-existent” amid the continuing aggression. She emphasized that she had repeatedly issued early warnings to the Israeli occupation regarding its obligations under international law but received no response.

Describing the humanitarian and medical conditions in Gaza as catastrophic, Mofokeng said they “do not allow for a dignified life or a society capable of survival or growth.” In addition to the direct injuries caused by relentless attacks, she highlighted the severe psychological toll on Gaza’s residents, who suffer from trauma, chronic stress, and sleep deprivation—conditions that further devastate their physical and mental well-being.

Targeting of aid agencies a 'deliberate policy'

Mofokeng condemned the Israeli occupation’s blockade and repeated attacks on UN and relief agencies, calling it part of a “broader plan to dismantle the human rights system and evade accountability.” The destruction of humanitarian infrastructure and the forced shutdown of aid agencies were not incidental, she stressed, but intentional, and facilitated by the political protection the Israeli regime receives from powerful countries, even within the UN system.

Commenting on the new US-"Israel"-backed distribution mechanism known as “Gaza Humanitarian,” Mofokeng dismissed it as “a new method of killing and part of a plan for genocide.” She explained that warnings were issued early on about the deprivation of food, water, and medicine, but they were ignored.

“People today are standing in random queues, under constant threat from snipers and assaults,” she added.