Gaza deaths rise as hospitals lose power and West Bank attacks spread
Palestinian and UN officials reported new deaths, aid shortages and rising West Bank violence during another week of Israeli attacks.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
3 min read
Israeli attacks in Gaza killed more Palestinians over the past week, including children, while hospitals struggled with fuel shortages and damaged facilities, according to Al Jazeera, Palestinian officials and UN agencies. The reported toll since an October ceasefire has reached at least 1,108 deaths, while the number killed since the war began in October 2023 has reached 73,231, with 173,686 wounded, according to Gaza health authorities cited by Al Jazeera.
Palestinian health officials said Israeli strikes on July 8 killed at least eight people, including a 10-year-old in a tent in al-Mawasi and a six-year-old in Gaza City’s Zeitoun area, Al Jazeera reported. On July 12, nine-year-old Tala Jumaa Abu Matar was killed by Israeli fire near Nuseirat refugee camp, according to medical sources cited by the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Al Jazeera reported that a World Central Kitchen driver, Ahmad Nasser Saleem, was shot dead on July 9 while moving coordinated aid from the Karem Abu Salem crossing. Gaza-based activist Hamza al-Masri said strikes hit tents sheltering displaced people in al-Mawasi throughout the week.
Hospitals and aid under strain
An Israeli drone hit the courtyard of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza on July 10, wounding staff, according to Al Jazeera. Gaza’s Ministry of Health described the strike as part of what it called Israel’s systematic targeting of medical facilities.
COGAT, the Israeli military body overseeing aid coordination, said humanitarian supplies entering Gaza had exceeded UN-identified needs, according to the Times of Israel. Its chief, Major-General Yoram Halevy, said people challenging COGAT’s figures were amplifying Hamas propaganda, the outlet reported.
UN data described a different situation. In a July 10 report, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said food parcels distributed to more than 53,500 people covered 75 percent of minimum caloric needs, while a supplement of high-energy biscuits had been paused to conserve emergency stocks.
OCHA said 56 percent of aid cargo sent through the Egypt corridor was offloaded at Karem Abu Salem. The agency also reported that shelter support for families dropped 37 percent from May to June because of funding gaps and Israeli restrictions on materials.
UN health partners recorded more than 18,000 new cases of chickenpox, skin infections and parasitic infestation in one week, according to OCHA. Al Jazeera reported that fuel shortages left Gaza medical facilities without power, with 38 hospitals destroyed or out of service and Gaza’s Ministry of Health warning that laboratories and blood banks could shut down.
Palestinian vote announced amid obstacles
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree setting legislative elections for November 28, Al Jazeera reported. The vote would be the first such election in 20 years.
The announcement followed the resignation of Gaza’s Hamas-run government to make way for a technocratic committee that had not yet entered the territory, according to Al Jazeera. The outlet reported that the plan faces major barriers, including Israel’s lack of approval for voting in occupied East Jerusalem, Gaza’s wrecked infrastructure and an outdated population registry.
West Bank pressure grows
Israeli groups Peace Now and Kerem Navot reported that 185 new outposts, 102 new settlements and the expulsion of 118 Palestinian herding communities occurred between 2023 and 2025. The groups said illegal farm outposts controlled more than 1.1 million dunams, or 18 percent of the West Bank.
Wafa and local officials reported demolitions, uprooted trees and land seizures in several West Bank areas. The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said Israeli authorities issued 49 military land-seizure orders in the first half of 2026, already more than the 47 issued in all of 2025.
OCHA recorded at least 35 settler incidents causing casualties or property damage in one week, bringing the 2026 total to more than 1,200 incidents across more than 240 communities. US Congressman Ro Khanna told NBC News that the Israeli military was lying after it said soldiers dispersed settlers who had detained his group in Khirbet Zanuta, Al Jazeera reported.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.