The Israeli military announced on Monday that 600 of its soldiers have been killed since October 7, the date of the attack launched by Hamas on southern Israel, which led to the outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip.
On its website, the military confirmed that “Nadav Cohen (20 years old) from Haifa was killed during the battles in the southern Gaza Strip,” raising the total number of soldiers killed inside Israel and the Palestinian territories to 600 since October 7, 2023, according to the French Press Agency.
Since the October 7 attack, Israeli forces have been conducting offensive military operations against Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip and began ground operations in the sector since October 27.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the Israeli military operations have resulted in the death of 32,782 people and injured 75,298 since October 7, in addition to thousands of bodies under the rubble that have not yet been retrieved.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza has significantly deteriorated since the onset of the war on October 7, 2023, with devastating impacts on healthcare, food security, access to clean water, and sanitation
Gaza’s healthcare system has been pushed to the brink of collapse. Hospitals and health facilities are facing catastrophic shortages of medical supplies due to Israel’s blockade, severely impacting emergency, trauma, and surgical services. The power outage across Gaza has forced hospitals to rely on generators, placing patients’ lives, including those of newborns and individuals with critical conditions, at imminent risk. Direct attacks have damaged healthcare infrastructure, and there’s a dire shortage of blood and medicine. The World Health Organization (WHO) has documented attacks on healthcare facilities and personnel, further compromising the already fragile healthcare system.
Nearly half a million people have been unable to access food rations since the onset of hostilities. The UN warns of acute food shortages, exacerbated by damage to agricultural lands and restrictions on the entry of supplies. Only a fraction of Gaza’s mills are operational, leading to dwindling wheat flour reserves. The entire population is experiencing varying degrees of food insecurity, with significant portions facing emergency and catastrophic levels of hunger.
Access to clean drinking water has become even more scarce. Families spend hours searching for water, often resorting to drinking from unreliable and potentially unsafe sources. The situation is dire, with the last functioning desalination plant shutting down due to fuel shortages, and wastewater treatment facilities are no longer operational, causing untreated sewage to be discharged into the sea. This has led to an accumulation of sewage and solid waste in the streets, raising health and environmental concerns.
