Casualties climb to more than 70,000 as bombardments, winter storms, and deliberate attacks devastate displaced Palestinians; health officials warn of collapsing hospitals and rising deaths among children.
Gaza Report, December 16, 2025:
Medical sources in Gaza confirmed on Tuesday that the death toll from the ongoing genocide has risen to 70,667 Palestinians, the majority women, and children, with 171,151 injured since October 7, 2023.
Civil defense teams continue to report victims trapped under collapsed buildings, but the destruction and lack of equipment prevent them from reaching many of the bodies.
In the past 24 hours, hospitals received the bodies of two Palestinians recovered from rubble and treated six injured civilians.
Since the “ceasefire” agreement announced on October 11, 2023, health officials have documented 393 deaths and 1,074 injuries, while 634 bodies have been retrieved from destroyed neighborhoods.
The humanitarian crisis deepened with the death of infant Mohammad Khalil Abu al‑Khair, only two weeks old, who succumbed to hypothermia after days in intensive care.
Doctors explained that the baby’s death reflects the collapse of Gaza’s basic infrastructure: families are forced to live in tents on wet ground without heating, electricity, or sufficient clothing.
Family Burned Alive in Tent
Al‑Jazeera reported that Israeli forces burned a Palestinian family to death inside their tent in a displacement camp in southern Gaza.
The incident underscores the extreme vulnerability of displaced families living in makeshift shelters, where even temporary refuge has become a site of lethal violence.
Israel burned a Palestinian family to death in their tent in a displacement camp in southern Gaza during the so-called ceasefire. pic.twitter.com/fglY1QXKdu
— AJ+ (@ajplus) December 16, 2025
Flooding in Displacement Camps
At the same time, displaced Palestinians battled flooding in fragile tents as winter storms swept across Gaza. Heavy rains destroyed thousands of shelters and left families exposed to freezing temperatures.
Civil defense teams reported collapses in Gaza City and the Shati refugee camp, where one person was killed and several injured.
Aid agencies warn that the combination of bombardment, flooding, and freezing weather has created catastrophic conditions for more than a million displaced civilians.
Continued Bombardment and Infrastructure Collapse
Israeli bombardments also continued across Gaza, striking residential blocks, schools, and shelters in Gaza City, Khan Younis, Rafah, and northern Gaza.
Witnesses described entire families buried under rubble, while hospitals struggled to cope with the influx of casualties amid severe shortages of medicine, fuel, and equipment. Communications blackouts and damaged roads further hampered rescue operations.
The Health Ministry stated that the Gaza Strip’s medical system is on the verge of collapse. Hospitals are operating far beyond capacity, with doctors performing surgeries without anesthesia and patients lying on floors due to the lack of beds.
Legal and Humanitarian Context
Human rights organizations stressed that these figures and incidents illustrate the systematic destruction of civilian life and infrastructure in Gaza, in violation of international humanitarian law.
The Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits targeting civilians and destroying property in occupied territory, yet the ongoing bombardments, demolitions, and denial of aid continue to exacerbate displacement and mortality.
