The death toll in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip has risen to more than 40,000, the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry said on Thursday.
More than 92,400 Palestinians have been wounded since the war began in October 2023, according to the health authority, which is controlled by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
The figures cannot be independently verified and do not distinguish between fighters and civilians.
“Today is a sad day for the world,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, adding that most of the dead are women and children.
“This unimaginable situation is due in large part to the repeated failure of the Israeli military to adhere to the rules of war.”
Türk said an average of 130 people have been killed in Gaza every day over the past 10 months.
He called the scale of the destruction of homes, hospitals, schools and places of worship by the Israeli army “deeply shocking”.
The war began after the unprecedented massacre by Hamas and other extremist groups that killed more than 1,200 people in southern Israel on October 7. About 250 people were taken hostage.
The Israeli response, consisting of large-scale airstrikes and a ground offensive, has been criticized for the number of civilian casualties and the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Türk said his office has recorded violations of international humanitarian law by both Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups, including Hamas.
