Hospitals recorded on Saturday eight new deaths due to starvation and malnutrition, including two children, bringing the total to 281 deaths from hunger, among them 114 children.

The ministry also said at least 61 people were killed and 308 injured in Israel’s airstrikes over the past 24 hours – a figure it says is likely an undercount as a number of victims remained under rubble and on the streets, with ambulance and civil defense crews unable to reach them.

According to its daily update, the cumulative death toll in Gaza has risen to 62,622, with 157,673 injured since Israel unleashed its campaign of genocide on the Palestinian territory on October 7, 2023.