On October 22, 2023, the bodies of six children killed in an Israeli airstrike lie in the morgue of Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Bara, central Gaza Strip, amid ongoing fighting between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas armed group.

　 The bodies of six children killed in an Israeli airstrike lie in the morgue of al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Bara, central Gaza Strip, on October 22, 2023, amid ongoing fighting between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas armed group. The bodies of six children killed by Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip lie in the morgue of Al Aqsa Hospital. According to colleagues at Al-Aqsa Hospital, the children were the children of two families living in the same house.

　In the 24 hours of November 28, 2023, rescuers collected 160 bodies from under rubble and from roads in the Gaza Strip, bringing the death toll since the start of the Israeli offensive on October 7 to more than 15,000, including more than 6,150 children and 4,000 women. Due to a lack of machinery and equipment to remove the debris, rescuers have so far exhumed the bodies by hand and using primitive methods. Approximately 6,500 missing persons are still under the rubble or unaccounted for.

　Since the temporary humanitarian ceasefire began on November 24, rescuers, first responders, and civilians have done everything they could to collect as many bodies as possible. The past five days have expressed the horror of the humanitarian catastrophe that has struck the Gaza Strip. As a result of Israeli air, land, and sea bombardment, some 300,000 homes were damaged, 50,000 of which were completely destroyed.

　Despite the cease-fire, occupation forces prevented civilians displaced to the southern Gaza Strip from returning to northern cities and towns. Israeli occupation forces stationed on Salah al-Din Street opened fire on civilians trying to head north to inspect their homes and search for missing family members, killing three and wounding others.

　On December 14, the Israeli army's shelling of the Gaza Strip killed some 18,787 people and wounded more than 50,897, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Strip Health Ministry. Numerous victims still lie under rubble and on roads.

Warning: The bodies of children killed in an Israeli strike, lie on the floor at the morgue of the Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir Balah in the central Gaza Strip on October 22, 2023, as battles continue between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group. (MAHMUD HAMS / AFP)