The Ministry of Health in Gaza announced, on Monday, that the death toll from the Israeli war on the Strip had risen to “26,637 killed and 65,387 injured” since last October 7.

This came in a press conference by Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qudra, held in front of “Tal Al-Sultan Maternity Hospital” in the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip.

Al-Qudra said, "The toll of the Israeli aggression has risen to 26,637 killed and 65,387 injured since the seventh of last October."

He explained, "During the past 24 hours, the Israeli occupation committed 14 massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, claiming 215 dead and 300 injuries."

Al-Qudra pointed out that "a number of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads," explaining that "the occupation prevents ambulance and civil defense crews from reaching them."

He said, "The Israeli occupation is still tightening its siege of Nasser Medical Complex and Al-Amal Hospital (in Khan Yunis), which paralyzes the health system's capabilities in rescuing the wounded as a result of the siege and the depletion of many anesthesia and intensive care medications, bone stabilizers, and blood units."

He added: "The Israeli occupation commits field executions of citizens in Khan Yunis and prevents the arrival of ambulances to evacuate the dead and wounded."

The spokesman for the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip called on international organizations to "quickly intervene to protect all hospitals, especially Khan Yunis hospitals, which are under direct targeting, to protect their staff, hundreds of wounded, and thousands of displaced people, and to provide medicine, food, and fuel."

Regarding the cessation of international support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Al-Qudra condemned “the systematic targeting of the United Nations and its humanitarian institutions and the cessation of its support, in line with the occupation’s displacement policy.”

He explained that "stopping support (for UNRWA) undermines its relief and health efforts and increases the catastrophic conditions" in the Strip.

On Monday, the number of countries that “temporarily” suspended their funding to the UN agency rose to 12, following Israeli allegations that 12 UNRWA employees participated in the October 7, 2023 attack on the settlements adjacent to the Gaza Strip.

The countries that suspended their funding to the agency are the United States, Canada, Australia, Italy, Britain, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Japan, and Austria.

On Friday, UNRWA said that it had opened an investigation into allegations of the involvement of a number of its employees (without specifying) in the October 7 attacks.