The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip announced, on Thursday, that the death toll from the Israeli war on the Strip had risen to 21,320 dead and 55,603 wounded.

Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qudra said in a statement: “The toll of the aggression against Gaza has risen to 21,320 dead and 55,603 wounded since the seventh of last October.”

Al-Qudra added: "The occupation forces committed 20 massacres against entire families, claiming 210 dead and 360 injuries during the past 24 hours."

He pointed out that the Israeli army is increasing its targeting of the vicinity of "Al-Amal" Hospital and the Nasser Medical Complex in the city of Khan Yunis, expressing his fear that "the same scenario that happened in the Al-Shifa Medical Complex will be repeated against the hospital."

On the morning of October 15, the Israeli army raided Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest health facility in the Gaza Strip, where thousands of patients and displaced civilians are located.

At that time, Israel provided some rusty individual weapons and several cameras as evidence of its claims, through which it confirmed that “Al-Shifa” contained Hamas leadership headquarters, tunnels, and ammunition depots, which sparked widespread criticism, and the occupation forces withdrew from the hospital after destroying some of its parts after 10 days of its occupation.

Al-Qudra called on international institutions to "take effective and urgent steps to ensure the protection of Al-Amal Hospital and Nasser Medical Complex, their medical staff, the wounded and sick, and thousands of displaced people there."

During the past two days, Israeli warplanes launched violent raids in the vicinity of Nasser Medical Complex and “Al-Amal” Hospital in central Khan Yunis.

He also called on international institutions to intervene urgently in order to "restart the operation of the largest Al-Shifa Medical Complex in the Gaza Strip."

He pointed out the arrival of specialized medical teams, in cooperation with international health institutions, to work in the “Al-Aqsa Martyrs” (center) and “Nasser” and “European Gaza” hospitals (south).

Al-Qudra said, “The Israeli violations against the health system led to the death of 312 health personnel, some of whom were of rare specialized capabilities.”

He added, "The Israeli occupation deliberately destroyed 104 ambulances and put them out of service. It also deliberately targeted 142 health institutions and put 23 hospitals and 53 health centers out of service."

On the other hand, he warned that “the humanitarian and health conditions of the displaced have reached catastrophic levels beyond description,” explaining that more than 1.9 million displaced people lack water, food, and medicine.

He stated that "50,000 pregnant women suffer from thirst, malnutrition, and poor health care in shelter centers."

He pointed out that 50 percent of the displaced children are exposed to dehydration, malnutrition, respiratory and skin diseases, extreme cold, and the lack of vaccinations for newborns.

Al-Qudra said, "The mechanism for leaving the wounded is ineffective and does not respond to the large numbers of casualties. We need to provide a new mechanism that allows hundreds of wounded to leave every day."

He added: "The urgent priority currently is for 5,000 wounded people with serious and complex cases to leave for treatment abroad to save their lives."

The Israeli occupation army is escalating its war on the Gaza Strip’s hospitals and health teams, as part of a devastating war on Gaza that it has been waging since last October 7, which has left material and human losses, massive infrastructure destruction and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, according to the Gaza Strip authorities and the United Nations.