ISTANBUL

At least 57,268 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip since October 2023, the Health Ministry said on Friday, in updated figures on the war’s cumulative death toll.

A ministry statement said that 138 bodies were brought to hospitals in the last 24 hours, while 625 people were injured, bringing the number of injuries in the Israeli onslaught to 135,173.

“Many victims are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads, with rescuers unable to reach them,” it added.

The ministry noted that 62 Palestinians were killed and over 300 injured while trying to get humanitarian aid in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of aid seekers killed by Israeli fire since May 27 to 714 and 4,837 others wounded.

A new Israeli-backed aid scheme has been criticized by Palestinian officials and international observers as a death trap.

The Israeli army resumed its attacks on the Gaza Strip on March 18 and has since killed 6,710 people and injured 23,584 others, shattering a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold in January.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.