Gaza's 40,000 dead marks 'global shame' amid relentless Israeli attacks

The official number of people killed by Israel's war on Gaza surpassed the staggering 40,000 mark on Thursday, as the brutal ten-month-long offensive sees Israel's indiscriminate and relentless attacks decimate the enclave amid accusations of genocide.

Humanitarian organisations, such as Islamic Relief Worldwide, on Thursday decried the grim milestone, describing it as an "eternal global shame" and called for a ceasefire reiterating that nowhere in Gaza was safe.

The extraordinarily high death toll of the ten-month war exceeds the number killed over two years of the Ukraine-Russia war, where 30,457 Ukrainians have died according to a UN report.

Gaza's health ministry on Thursday issued its daily update which stated that 40 dead were registered at hospitals in the past day, as well as 107 wounded people.

"As the death toll rises above 40,000, Palestinians in Gaza do not need more hollow words from international governments – they need meaningful action," Islamic Relief Worldwide said in a statement on Thursday.

"Governments must do everything in their power to pressure Israel to stop the killing, including halting arms sales, suspending trade agreements and supporting accountability."

The health ministry’s toll only accounts for those deaths registered at hospitals with the real number of dead feared to be much higher as many bodies remain trapped under rubble and out of reach of emergency workers.

Most of the dead are women and children, health officials have reported, although its toll does not distinguish fighters killed. Journalists, medical workers, academics, students, and engineers have all been killed throughout the war.

Israel's offensive in the enclave, home to 2.3 million people, has decimated the territory with some three-in -four buildings damaged, according to UN figures.

The main cities of Gaza City, Khan Younis, and Rafah have been ravaged by aerial, land, and sea bombardment. Despite the population density of the overcrowded enclave and the danger to civilians, Israel's air force has been dropping heavy munitions which have pummelled homes, mosques, schools, universities and even graveyards.

The UN estimates that Gaza's rubble weighs over 40 million tons which will take 15 years to clear.

Since October, Palestinians have woken each day to news of more people killed while scores of workers have been digging mass graves to uncover the overwhelming number of corpses.

In March, the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA said that more children were killed in Gaza in four months of war than in four years of global conflicts.

Medical workers in Gaza have warned about the collapse of the health system and shortage of supplies that have hampered recovery efforts for the sick and wounded, leaving many more to die due to inadequate treatments.

Over half of Gaza’s hospitals are not operating because of Israeli attacks, killed medical staff, and a shortage of equipment.

The war has witnessed repeated mass casualty events from Israeli missiles slamming into areas where civilians gather.

On 10 August, some 100 people reportedly died when an Israeli air strike smashed into Al-Tabeen school sheltering the displaced in Gaza City. Families had gathered for morning prayers when the attack happened.

Doctors at Al-Alhi Hospital said they received dozens of the dead, including elderly, women and children. Israel claimed it was targeting Hamas fighters.

The incident, like several massacres throughout the war, prompted words of global condemnation. But despite the atrocity and scale of suffering, the international community has failed to halt Israel’s attacks.

As the war has dragged on, Gaza’s population feels let down by the apparent global lethargy towards their pain.

Fikr Shalltoot the Gaza director of NGO Medical Aid for Palestinians said that 40,000 families are grieving.

"Over ten months of hell, people continue to lose their loved ones; family members, close friends and neighbours," Shalltoot said, whose NGO has been one of the main providers of aid throughout the war.

"Many people are losing hope and some are losing faith, but mostly people are losing trust in the international community."

Throughout the war, Israel has attempted to cast doubt on the health ministry's reports by claiming it is "Hamas propaganda". However, dozens of international experts and doctors have affirmed its credibility based on previous occasions.

The UN also works with Gaza health ministry figures for its own documentation of the conflict.

Renowned medical journal The Lancet reported earlier this month that the total death toll in Gaza could reach 186,000 – nearly eight percent of the population -  considering indirect deaths from disease and malnutrition.

Some 92,401 people have been injured during the war which began on 7 October following Hamas-led surprise incursion into southern Israel.