Death toll from Israeli strikes in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023 surpasses 50,000: health authorities

GAZA -- The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has topped 50,000, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Sunday.

In the past 24 hours, 41 bodies and 61 wounded people were brought to hospitals across Gaza, bringing the total death toll to 50,021, with 113,274 injured since fighting erupted in early October 2023, the statement said.

Since a new wave of Israeli airstrikes began on March 18, at least 673 people have been killed and 1,233 wounded, the health authorities said.

Also on Sunday, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) warned that Israel's three-week blockade of aid to Gaza is accelerating a hunger crisis.

"No food, no medicines, no water, no fuel. A siege more stringent than during the initial phase of the war," the agency posted on social media platform X.

It emphasized that Gaza's population relies on imports for survival, with children increasingly facing starvation and disease as aid remains blocked.

Israel halted all supply entries to Gaza on March 2, citing security concerns.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Israel on Sunday for using access to water as a "tool of torture and displacement," alleging it aims to undermine development and entrench its occupation of Palestinian territories, in a statement marking World Water Day, observed annually on March 22.

He called for an immediate ceasefire, unfettered aid access, and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza while appealing for global support to establish a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.