GAZA (Palestine Foundation Information Center) Dr. Munir Al-Bursh, Director General of the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, said the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) are intensifying their attacks against civilians, targeting shelters in a campaign of ongoing genocide involving multiple daily massacres. He described the health situation as “dire and extremely painful.”
In media statements on Sunday, Al-Bursh revealed that approximately 500 Palestinians have been killed in what he called “death traps.”
He explained that the IOF uses artillery fire to disperse crowds waiting for humanitarian aid, after which snipers target those who survive. Many of the injuries, he noted, are concentrated in the head and chest, indicating a clear intent to kill.
He referred to live footage and testimonies from children, showing they are being deliberately targeted for lethal force rather than deterrence or dispersal.
Al-Bursh recounted the case of infant Jouri al-Masri, who he said died from starvation after the occupation denied her basic nourishment by sealing off crossings and imposing a blockade. Jouri became the 66th child confirmed to have died from malnutrition and hunger.
According to Al-Bursh, 59,000 children under the age of five are now at risk of suffering the same fate.
He also warned of the spread of infectious diseases, particularly respiratory illnesses. Since the beginning of the year, the Ministry has documented over 254,000 cases of respiratory illness, 337 cases of meningitis, and 259 viral infections.
Children in Gaza, he added, “are not growing normally.” They are “emaciated, with pale faces and dry tears.” He reported that 17,000 children have died so far, along with 9,000 women. Approximately 55,000 pregnant women are suffering from malnutrition, which has led to increased instances of premature births and congenital deformities.
Al-Bursh criticized the silence of the international community, and particularly the silence of the Arab and Muslim world, saying that the image of Jouri al-Masri symbolized the “failure, betrayal, and complicity” of the world. “The death of Jouri and others due to lack of milk is not only a tragedy—it is a moral and humanitarian scandal.”
In a related development, the Israeli Haaretz newspaper published an investigation quoting Israeli officers and soldiers who confirmed that orders to shoot starving Palestinians at aid centers were issued by army commanders. The investigation stressed that the civilians were unarmed and posed no threat, yet soldiers were instructed to open fire in order to keep them away from food distribution points.
