Children Among Dead As Gaza Crisis Deepens Amid Intensified Strikes
FILE PHOTO: Displaced Palestinian children are pictured among temporary tents in the west of Gaza City on March 3, 2026 (Image: Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)
Children continued to bear the brunt of Israel’s ongoing military offensive in Gaza this week, as fresh airstrikes, attacks on displacement camps and worsening humanitarian conditions added to the mounting civilian death toll.
According to Palestinian health authorities, at least 1,108 Palestinians have been killed since the October ceasefire, bringing the overall death toll since the conflict began in October 2023 to 73,231, with 173,686 people wounded.
Among those killed this week were several children. On July 8, an Israeli strike hit a tent sheltering displaced families in al-Mawasi, an area previously designated by Israel as a humanitarian zone, killing a 10-year-old child. On the same day, a six-year-old was reportedly shot dead in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood, according to Palestinian health officials. Days later, on July 12, nine-year-old Tala Jumaa Abu Matar was killed near the Nuseirat refugee camp, medical sources told Wafa.
Throughout the week, repeated strikes on tents housing displaced civilians in al-Mawasi underscored the risks faced even in areas intended to provide refuge.
Aid workers also came under fire. On July 9, Ahmad Nasser Saleem, a driver for World Central Kitchen, was shot dead while transporting humanitarian supplies from the Karem Abu Salem crossing, according to Al Jazeera. Reports said Saleem was killed despite raising his hands, adding to the growing number of humanitarian personnel who have lost their lives during the conflict.
Gaza’s healthcare system, already under immense strain, suffered further damage. On July 10, an Israeli drone strike hit the courtyard of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, injuring medical staff despite the hospital being located within what Israel had designated as a “green zone.”
Gaza’s Health Ministry described the incident as part of Israel’s “systematic targeting of health facilities.”
The worsening fuel crisis has pushed hospitals closer to collapse. With 38 medical facilities already destroyed or rendered inoperable, doctors have reportedly been forced to shorten surgical procedures to conserve fuel. The Health Ministry also warned that laboratories and blood banks could soon shut down, threatening to cripple what remains of Gaza’s healthcare services.
Aid shortages, political uncertainty and West Bank tensions
As military operations continued, competing narratives emerged over the humanitarian situation.
Israel’s military aid coordination agency, COGAT, maintained that humanitarian assistance entering Gaza had “significantly exceeded” the needs identified by the United Nations. The agency’s chief also accused critics of repeating Hamas propaganda.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) presented a sharply different assessment.
In its July 10 situation report, OCHA said food distributions during early July met only about 75 per cent of minimum daily caloric requirements. Emergency distributions of high-energy biscuits had been suspended because of dwindling stocks, while only 56 per cent of aid entering through the Egypt corridor was successfully unloaded at the Karem Abu Salem crossing.
Shelter assistance has also declined significantly. OCHA reported that the number of families receiving shelter support dropped by 37 per cent between May and June, citing funding shortages and restrictions on humanitarian materials.
The agency further warned that around 350,000 people living with chronic illnesses continue to face severe disruptions in accessing medical treatment because of restrictions on medical supplies. Health partners also recorded more than 18,000 new cases of chickenpox, skin infections and parasitic diseases in a single week, reflecting the deteriorating public health situation across the enclave.
Political developments offered little immediate optimism. Shortly after Gaza’s Hamas-run administration announced its resignation to make way for a proposed technocratic committee, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree calling for legislative elections on November 28, the first such elections in two decades. However, with Gaza’s infrastructure devastated, civil records outdated and uncertainty over voting in occupied East Jerusalem, significant challenges remain before any vote can be conducted.
Meanwhile, violence and settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank continued to intensify.
A report released by Israeli organisations Peace Now and Kerem Navot concluded that settlement activity between 2023 and 2025 amounted to “de facto annexation on an unprecedented scale.” According to the report, 185 new settlement outposts were established, 118 Palestinian herding communities displaced, 102 new settlements created and agricultural outposts expanded to control more than 1.1 million dunams of land, equivalent to around 18 per cent of the occupied West Bank.
During the week, Israeli forces uprooted hundreds of olive and grape trees in the northern Jordan Valley, destroyed more than 1,500 olive trees near Jenin and demolished homes, agricultural structures and Yanun Elementary School, which served 15 children. In occupied East Jerusalem, authorities ordered the Abu Tir family to demolish their own home, imposing an 80,000-shekel fine and leaving seven family members homeless.
Settler violence also continued to rise. OCHA documented at least 35 settler attacks causing casualties or property damage in a single week, bringing the total number of such incidents recorded in 2026 to more than 1,200 across over 240 Palestinian communities.
International attention also sharpened after US Congressman Ro Khanna said he was detained for more than an hour by settlers while visiting the evacuated Palestinian village of Khirbet Zanuta, accusing the Israeli military of misrepresenting the incident after soldiers blocked his departure.
Separately, Haaretz reported that Israeli prison authorities had imposed new restrictions on International Committee of the Red Cross visits to Palestinian detainees despite a unanimous Israeli High Court ruling permitting them. Rights groups argued the restrictions could hinder independent monitoring of detention conditions.
Despite diplomatic efforts, progress remained elusive after Israel reportedly barred the Arab League secretary-general from entering the occupied West Bank to meet President Abbas.
As fighting continues, humanitarian agencies warn that Gaza’s hospitals, aid systems and civilian infrastructure are approaching breaking point, while thousands of displaced families remain without safe shelter amid an escalating conflict.
