More than 10 thousand people have died in Gaza

Israel declared war on Hamas after the Islamist group carried out an October 7 attack in Israel that left 1,400 people dead and 240 captured. Israel responded by launching a ground and air attack on Gaza, vowing to destroy Hamas.

Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al Qudra said 10,022 Palestinians in the enclave had been killed in Israeli airstrikes, including 4,104 children, 2,641 women and 611 elderly people. These figures suggest that three-quarters of those killed were vulnerable. The ministry also said 25,408 people had been injured.

It is unclear how many of those were Hamas militants. CNN has not been able to verify the number of casualties in Gaza, which is under a blockade by Israel and largely blockaded by Egypt.

On Monday alone, after a day-long bombing, Al-Aqsa Hospital for the Disabled witnessed more than a hundred deaths, according to the hospital's media office.

White House National Security Council strategic communications coordinator John Kirby said on Monday that “thousands of innocent people have been killed” in Gaza.

Thousands of Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the past month, more than have died in the conflict with Israel in the past 15 years.

The UN human rights office has said that last week’s Israeli attacks on Gaza’s largest refugee camp “may amount to war crimes” because of the scale of destruction and casualties they have caused.

Israel has insisted that it targeted Hamas members in Gaza, and has also claimed that Hamas “deliberately placed weapons in residential areas” and used civilians as human shields, an explanation repeatedly reiterated by US officials.

In an interview with ABC News on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he believes Israel will hold “overall security responsibility” in Gaza “indefinitely” after the war ends.

“We've seen what happens when we don't have that role.”

On Monday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that Gaza was “becoming a graveyard for children”, and that “the catastrophe unfolding there makes a humanitarian ceasefire all the more important”.

According to CNN's calculations based on the Gaza health ministry's assertion, every 10 minutes that pass, at least one child in Gaza dies.

Mr. Guterres said before the UN in New York: "The nightmare in Gaza is bigger than a humanitarian crisis. This is a crisis for all of humanity."

Mr Guterres said on Monday the UN had launched a $1.2 billion “humanitarian appeal”, insisting that “trickle-down humanitarian support” was not enough to meet the “sea of need”.

More than 560 trucks carrying aid have entered Gaza since the conflict began nearly a month ago. However, the Israeli government has not allowed trucks carrying fuel into Gaza. Before October 7, about 500 trucks carrying aid entered Gaza every day.

“Without fuel, babies in incubators and patients on life support machines will not survive,” Mr. Guterres affirmed.

The international charity Save the Children said last month that the number of reported child deaths in Israel's Gaza campaign had surpassed the number of children killed in conflicts around the world each year for the past four years.

On Sunday, Hamas government media chief Salama Marouf called on the United Nations to verify the accuracy of Israel's claims that Hamas used hospitals as shields.

“We are ready to welcome any international commission organized by the UN, WHO, the International Red Cross, or any other international organization to examine and refute the lies and slanders about the hospitals. [These hospitals] are used for one purpose only, which is to provide medical assistance to the wounded and sick.”

Casualties continue to rise

At Al-Aqsa Hospital for the Injured, journalist Hassan Eslayeh witnessed dozens of deaths throughout Monday. Most were brought there by car, as Gaza’s communications disruptions cut off the ability to call for help. Ambulances were seen following the cars to the site of the bombing and bringing more dead to the hospital.

CNN posted a video on Monday showing more than 20 body bags lined up outside the hospital on the day of the funeral. Many people then loaded the bags onto trucks or ambulances to prepare for burial.

The US has supported Israel’s campaign throughout the war, insisting that Israel has the right to defend itself. It vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for a humanitarian pause to allow aid into Gaza on October 18. However, on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden said he supported a humanitarian pause to allow for the release of more hostages from Gaza.

Washington has also warned that it will become increasingly difficult for Israel to pursue its military objectives in Gaza as international outrage over the suffering of its people grows.

Israel's campaign in Gaza has sparked protests around the world and led to warnings from Iran-backed militias in the region of possible intervention, which have begun fighting the Israeli army.

However, Israel shows no signs of slowing down, and insists its campaign in Gaza will continue to expand.

Nearly 1.5 million Gazans have been forcibly displaced from the 360-square-kilometer zone, with thousands taking refuge in cramped schools and hospitals that are increasingly short of food, water and electricity.

Nguyen Quang Minh (CNN)

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