At least 34 Palestinians were killed across Gaza on Saturday, according to local health sources. The toll includes 15 bodies brought to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis and seven more received by Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Six others reportedly died while waiting for aid near an aid distribution point in al-Akhawah. Additional bodies were recovered from various areas across the city, Al Jazeera reported.
Arrests in the West Bank
Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces arrested at least eight Palestinians in the Hebron district, according to the Wafa news agency. Five of the detainees were apprehended near a water spring in Nahalin, a town west of Bethlehem. Two brothers were taken while tending livestock near their home, and one individual was arrested in Ash-Shuyukh, northeast of Hebron.
Famine and Medical System Collapse Looming
Health officials and international aid organizations are sounding urgent warnings about the worsening humanitarian conditions in Gaza. Aid agencies have raised the alarm that all residents in the enclave now face a growing risk of famine. The crisis has intensified since Israel imposed a severe blockade in March, restricting the entry of food, fuel, and medical supplies.
While limited aid was permitted into Gaza last month under international pressure, operations at key distribution centers have come to a halt following gunfire by Israeli forces near aid hubs earlier this week.
Hospitals on the Brink
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the remaining major hospitals in southern Gaza — Nasser Medical Complex and Al-Amal Hospital — are close to becoming non-operational. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that the collapse of these facilities would deprive civilians of critical services including surgical care, intensive care, dialysis, and cancer treatment.
“These hospitals lie within or just outside the newly declared evacuation zone,” he noted. “Israeli authorities have informed us that access routes to both hospitals will be blocked, making it nearly impossible for staff and patients to reach them safely.”
Ghebreyesus condemned the ongoing destruction of Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure, calling it “relentless and systematic,” and urged an immediate halt. He reiterated the WHO’s demand for the release of hostages and an urgent, sustained ceasefire.
As violence continues and humanitarian conditions deteriorate, international pressure is mounting for meaningful action to avert a full-scale catastrophe.
