SHAH ALAM – Almost 22,000 Palestinians have been killed from the nearly three-month devastating Israeli onslaught on Gaza.
According to the Health Ministry in the besieged enclave on Monday, the deaths of Palestinians have reached 21,978 as of Jan 1, a total of 9,100 of whom were children and 6,500 women.
The number of injured in Gaza has also risen to more than 57,697 which included 8,663 children and 6,327 women while more than 7,000 Palestinians were missing.
It was reported that the ministry's spokesperson Dr Ashraf Al-Qudra said that the Israeli forces had also targeted medical facilities, resulting in the deaths of 326 medical staff, destroying 104 ambulances and damaging a total of 150 health centres across the Gaza Strip.
He urged the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit the 99 medical staff detained by the Israeli forces in Gaza and advocate for their release.
Al-Qudra also appealed to international aid groups to send medical teams and supplies, as well as field hospitals to Gaza to treat the wounded.
He was reported saying that out of the number of injured individuals, only 645 have been able to leave Gaza for continued medical treatment, with medical supplies severely depleted due to Israel's ongoing blockade.
Meanwhile, according to the latest data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Palestinian government, as of Dec 31, last year, the Israeli attacks have damaged more than half of Gaza's homes.
The impact reached beyond public structures and affected residential buildings, compelling civilians to seek refuge in the streets, among concrete rubble and in overcrowded shelters with inadequate facilities.
It was reported that a total of 355,000 residential units, 370 educational facilities, 203 places of worship were destroyed and damaged while 23 out of 36 hospitals were not functioning.
Israel had launched a campaign of relentless air and ground attacks on Gaza following Hamas fighters' operation on Oct 7, last year.
Israel said that 1,200 Israelis were killed in the operation.