About 10 percent of the Gaza Strip’s population killed, injured, or missing due to the Israeli genocide
Wounded Palestinian at Al-Ahli Arab hospital after Israeli attacks on homes al-Shuja’iyya, Gaza City, 27 June 2024
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reports on 26 July 2024:
About 10% of the Gaza Strip’s population has been killed, injured, or is missing due to the 293-day genocide carried out by Israel in the Strip, ongoing since 7 October 2023.
Euro-Med Monitor’s preliminary statistics indicate that about 50,000 Palestinians have been killed. This number includes those reportedly trapped under the rubble of destroyed buildings, or whose bodies are either stuck on roads or in border areas that have been completely destroyed, and thus cannot be recovered. More than about 100,000 others, meanwhile, have been injured. The majority of these victims were civilians, mostly women and children, while about 3,000 additional Palestinians have simply disappeared after being arrested from the Gaza Strip, with their fate remaining unknown.
The estimates provided by Euro-Med Monitor are based on data and statistics gathered by its field teams in neighbourhoods and camps located within the Gaza Strip, as well as from information received from relevant authorities and institutions, including several hospitals and medical teams. These indicate that at least 51,000 people have died as a result of the Israeli blockade of the entire Strip; denial of medical care; collapse of the health sector due to Israel’s targeting and blockade; insufficient ambulance services due to said targeting and blockade, as well as a severe shortage of basic medicines, particularly for patients with chronic illnesses and cancer; prevention of the ability to travel abroad for treatment; and the spread of infectious diseases and epidemics. Accordingly, the natural death rate increased from an estimated 3.5 per 1,000 people prior to the start of the genocide to 22 per 1,000 people during the genocide.
The number of beds available in operating hospitals and field hospitals across the Gaza Strip is down to less than 1,500, which is insufficient to accommodate the needs of over two million people. This is in contrast to the 3,500 beds that were available prior to 7 October. The scarcity of medical supplies and equipment is making the bed shortage worse, as is the Israeli army’s ongoing, systematic, and widespread destruction of hospitals and health facilities. Additionally, there has been a notable rise in the number of wounded and sick, which has resulted in a weak medical response and serious health complications for these individuals, as well as avoidable deaths among the elderly.