The number of people killed in Gaza has exceeded 5,000 according to the latest reports from de facto authorities there, amid intensifying Israeli airstrikes in response to Hamas attacks, while humanitarians repeated urgent calls for a ceasefire and more aid convoys.

Echoing that message, World Health Organisation (WHO) Tedros Ghebreyesus issued a new appeal on Monday for “sustained safe passage” for medical essentials and fuel to keep health facilities open.

“Lives depend on these decisions,” he insisted on social platform X.

Latest media reports citing the Gaza Ministry of Health indicate that the number of people killed in Gaza since October 7 has risen to 5,087.

Women and children have made up more than 62 per cent of the fatalities, while more than 15,273 people have been injured. In addition to the overall death toll, the number of UN staff members working with the Palestine refugee agency (UNRWA) has reached 35, according to the latest situation report released late Monday. A further 18 staffers have been injured.

According to UNRWA, nearly 600,000 internally displaced people are sheltering in 150 UNRWA facilities, with nearly 420,000 seeking refuge in 93 of the agency’s shelters in Middle, Khan Younis and Rafah areas, further south.

In its latest humanitarian update on the crisis, the UN Humanitarian Aid Coordination Office, OCHA, said more than 1,000 had been reported missing and presumed to be trapped under the rubble.

The largest medical facility in Gaza, Shifa Hospital, is now treating around 5,000 patients, many times beyond its normal figure of around 700.

According to Israeli official sources quoted by OCHA, some 1,400 people have been killed in Israel, the vast majority in the Hamas attacks on 7 October, which triggered the latest conflict.

OCHA said the reported fatality toll was “over threefold the cumulative number of Israelis killed” since it began recording casualties in 2005.

(NAN)