long Israeli occupation is taking a

devastating toll on pregnant women and nursing mothers in the besieged Gaza Strip. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah said that nearly 50,000 women are currently at extreme health risk due to severe shortages of food and essential medicines, Al Jazeera reported.

Hospital spokesman Khalil al-Dakran told the Palestinian news agency Wafa that the abortion rate in Gaza has increased sixfold since the start of the war. At the same time, the number of premature births has also increased dramatically, leading to the collapse of neonatal intensive care units.

He said that the Israeli attack has almost completely destroyed Gaza's health system, putting patients in grave danger.

Khalil al-Dakran added that more

than 23 hospitals in Gaza have been forced to close due to the ongoing Israeli attacks. The remaining ones that are open are barely functioning. The main reasons for this are shortages of emergency medical supplies and fuel.

As a result, more than 12,000 cancer patients in Gaza are not receiving treatment. About 5 cancer patients are dying every day. Kidney patients are also dying due to lack of necessary dialysis treatment.

Meanwhile, the Gaza Health Ministry said Israeli forces had attacked the roof of the administrative building of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, calling the attack part of a "planned policy" aimed at destroying Gaza's health system.

Dr. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of Gaza's largest, but already devastated, Al-Shifa Hospital, issued an urgent statement calling on the international community to allow blood supplies to enter immediately.

He said that many injured patients

are dying every day due to lack of blood.Meanwhile, the Israeli military said a reservist soldier was killed in northern Gaza, following three other soldiers killed in a Hamas counterattack the previous day.

On the other hand, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, 97 more Palestinians were killed and 440 injured in Israeli attacks by the occupying forces in the past 24 hours. This brings the total number of deaths in the ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7, 2023, to 54,607.

Israeli forces also detained 19 Palestinians in raids in various areas of the West Bank early this morning, including some political activists, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Media Association (ASRA).

All of this is leading to a deeper humanitarian catastrophe in the besieged Gaza Strip and the occupied Palestinian territories.