NewzMore than 60,000 children in the Gaza Strip have lost at least one parent since Israel’s military campaign began in October 2023, the enclave’s health ministry said in a report on Wednesday. According to the official figures, at least 60,737 children were orphaned or left with a single parent, including 52,095 who lost their fathers, 5,929 their mothers, and 2,713 who lost both parents. Read: Over 100 children killed in Gaza since ceasefire, UNICEF says The ministry also said 2,276 families — comprising 8,858 individuals — had been “completely wiped out” from the civil registry amid the ongoing conflict.
Overall, the death toll in Gaza has surpassed 73,000 since October 2023, the report added. Despite a ceasefire reached in October, Israeli forces have continued to carry out strikes across the territory, with more than 1,100 people reported killed since the truce came into effect. The figures highlight the severe humanitarian toll of the conflict, with thousands of children left without parental care and entire families erased during months of sustained violence.
The report by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel examined violations against Palestinian children since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7, 2023. Around 30% of those killed in the Gaza war were children, the report found. A previous report by the commission in September found that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza and that top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, incited these acts — accusations that Israel called scandalous.
Two female Israeli soldiers died by suicide over the past two days, bringing the number of active-duty Israeli soldiers who have died by suicide this year to at least 16, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Wednesday. According to Haaretz, one soldier serving in the Bardelas Battalion died on Tuesday after being found injured at a base in southern Israel. The other, who served in a classified role in the Military Intelligence Directorate, died two days earlier at the Glilot base near Ramat Hasharon, north of Tel Aviv.
At least nine additional soldiers who served during the Gaza war, either in regular service or the reserves, died by suicide this year after completing active duty, the newspaper said. Read: Israel targeted Gaza children resulting in genocide, UN inquiry says According to Haaretz, the figures indicate a rise in military suicides since the outbreak of the war on October 7, 2023. Before the war, the military recorded an average of 12 suicides a year over the previous decade.
From October 7 through the end of 2023, seven active-duty soldiers died by suicide. The number rose to 21 in 2024 and 22 in 2025, the highest annual total in 15 years, according to military data cited by the newspaper. The newspaper noted that the military has identified several cases in which participation in the war was directly linked to suicide, including reservists diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in or around Gaza.
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