Palestinian officials say harder to update Gaza casualty toll as health system buckles

"For the fourth consecutive day, the ministry faces challenges in updating the number of casualties because of services and communications collapsing in hospitals in the north," it said in a statement. The latest total since Oct. 7 shows 11,320 people killed, including 4,650 children or minors.

Palestinian health authorities said on Wednesday it was becoming increasingly difficult to obtain accurate casualty figures from Gaza due to the collapse of the hospital and health system in parts of the Israeli-besieged enclave. The Palestinian health ministry has been issuing a constantly updated total of the casualties from the Israeli bombardment of Gaza, launched in the wake of the deadly attack on Israel by Hamas gunmen on Oct. 7.

But as Israeli forces have pushed deep into the Gaza Strip and communications infrastructure has been degraded, contact with hospitals has buckled and systematic data collection has become more problematic, the ministry said. "For the fourth consecutive day, the ministry faces challenges in updating the number of casualties because of services and communications collapsing in hospitals in the north," it said in a statement.

The latest total since Oct. 7 shows 11,320 people killed, including 4,650 children or minors. In addition, 202 medical personnel have been killed and 3,600 civilians, including 1,750 children, have been declared missing, the ministry said. An official from Hamas, the Islamist movement that controls the Gaza Strip, said on Tuesday that 25 of the 35 hospitals in the enclave were out of use due to the bombardment.