The Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip said Thursday that more than 9,000 Palestinians have been killed since war broke out more than three weeks ago.
Dr. Ashraf al-Qidra, a ministry spokesperson, said 9,061 people have been killed in Gaza, including 3,760 who are under 18. The figure is without precedent in decades of Israeli-Palestinian violence and is around four times the toll from the 2014 Gaza war, which lasted over six weeks.
Al-Qidra warned of an “imminent health catastrophe” after the main generator in a hospital in northern Gaza failed and other hospitals face shortages of fuel and medicine. He said the generator at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the territory's largest hospital, appears likely to fail soon.
“We appeal to all parties to provide safe passage for the urgent flow of medical aid into Gaza,” he said.
