Gaza death toll hits 65,502 as accusations of genocide intensify

As the war in Gaza entered its 721st day, the death toll from Israeli military operations in Gaza has reached a staggering 65,502 Palestinians, with 167,376 others wounded since the war began in October 2023. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, 83 bodies were brought to hospitals in the past 24 hours alone, alongside 216 wounded. […]

As the war in Gaza entered its 721st day, the death toll from Israeli military operations in Gaza has reached a staggering 65,502 Palestinians, with 167,376 others wounded since the war began in October 2023.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, 83 bodies were brought to hospitals in the past 24 hours alone, alongside 216 wounded. Since Israel broke the ceasefire with Hamas on March 18, at least 12,939 people have been killed and 55,335 wounded. Among the dead are 2,538 Palestinians killed while seeking food aid, with 18,581 more injured in the same pursuit.

The scale of destruction and human suffering has prompted renewed international scrutiny, with growing calls for accountability and justice.

Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza City has drawn widespread condemnation, especially after a United Nations-backed investigation accused Israel of committing genocide. The offensive has coincided with a declared famine in parts of the territory, compounding the humanitarian crisis.

“We lost our children, our homes and our places,” said Najia Abu Amsha, whose nephew was killed while waiting for food aid. “We’ve become beggars and sick.”

Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, speaking via videolink to the UN General Assembly after being denied entry to the US, described the situation as a “war of genocide, destruction, starvation and displacement.

“The genocide has been waged by the Israeli occupation forces in which they killed and injured more than 220,000 Palestinians, the majority of whom are unarmed, children, women and the elderly,” he added.

Amnesty International has also weighed in, describing Israel’s actions as a “live-streamed genocide” with the “specific intent” of wiping out Palestinians. The International Court of Justice is currently reviewing a case filed by South Africa in 2023, accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.

The Government Media Office in Gaza reports that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are now displaced again, with central and southern governorates, especially al-Mawasi, overwhelmed. “There are no longer any empty or safe spaces to absorb more displaced people,” the office said. Makeshift tents line unsafe roads, and the Israeli military continues to block donated tents from entering Gaza, leaving many exposed to worsening weather.

“This is a result of a systematic policy by Israel that is backed by the United States,” the office added.

 

Military escalation and global repercussions

Israeli military divisions continue to push deeper into Gaza. The army said its Etzioni Brigade has been operating across the ruins of Rafah, claiming to have “attacked and killed dozens of terrorists” and destroyed remaining infrastructure. Operations have now shifted to Khan Younis, which has been separated from Rafah by a military corridor.

Over the past 24 hours, Israeli warplanes launched more than 170 airstrikes across Gaza. The army said its 162nd Division is “fighting deep inside Gaza City,” targeting ambush sites and weapons storage facilities. The 98th and 36th divisions also carried out attacks, while the 99th Division in the north was “dismantling above-ground and underground infrastructure.”

Medics reported at least 23 more Palestinians killed and scores injured, with several trapped under rubble. In Al-Zawayda, 11 people, including women and children, were killed in a house strike. In Khan Younis, four people were killed near the Jordanian Field Hospital.

In another development, the international fallout is growing. Slovenia declared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu persona non grata, citing ongoing proceedings for war crimes and crimes against humanity. “This measure is not directed against the Israeli people,” said Neva Grasic, Slovenia’s State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, “but sends a clear message to the government of Israel that Slovenia expects full respect for the rulings of international courts and international humanitarian law.”

Grasic referenced the July 2024 ruling by the International Court of Justice, which found several Israeli policies violated humanitarian and human rights law.

She also cited a September 2025 UN Human Rights Council report that concluded Israel’s actions amounted to genocide, “the first time the UN described Israel’s conduct in Gaza as genocidal.”

Slovenia had previously barred Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich for inciting violence and making “genocidal statements.”

Again, the diplomatic isolation of Israel is intensifying across the international community. European football body UEFA is reportedly moving toward a vote to suspend Israel from international competition over the genocide in Gaza.

A majority of UEFA’s 20-member executive committee is expected to support the measure, which could bar Israeli teams from upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

 

Displaced Gazans shelter in cemetery

Three children play with sand and pebbles among the tombstones in a southern Gaza cemetery, while a teenage boy, barefoot, carries two buckets of water through the graveyard before vanishing into a tent.

These macabre scenes are a daily reality for some displaced Palestinians, who, unable to find shelter elsewhere, have resorted to pitching tents in a cemetery in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip.

“We had no other choice,” said Randa Musleh from inside her tent, drinking tea along with some of her 11 children.

She told AFP landlords “were asking for high sums of money”.

A relatively small patch of land covering 50 square metres (540 square feet) can cost as much as 1,000 shekels ($300) a month, Musleh said – a prohibitive sum for most Gazans.

She fled to Khan Yunis with her children when Israeli military operations intensified near their home in Beit Hanun, in Gaza’s north.

“I walked and walked until I found land for my children in a livable place… People told us that we wouldn’t have to pay here, between the desert and the cemetery,” she said. “So, we set up tents and stayed here.”

As the Israeli army presses its offensive inside Gaza City, growing numbers of residents have fled south in recent days, scrambling to find space in an already overcrowded area where hundreds of thousands are sheltering.