Timeline, death rates, infrastructure collapse, and civilian crisis
Israel’s aerial bombardment of Gaza began in response to the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack. Since then, hundreds of airstrikes have been carried out daily across the strip, targeting suspected military sites as well as residential areas, hospitals, refugee camps, and aid routes. The pace and intensity of the bombing have remained relentless for more than 20 months, turning Gaza into one of the most heavily bombarded zones in the 21st century.
From October 2023 through April 2025, Gaza’s Health Ministry reports over 60,000 casualties. That averages to roughly 93 deaths per day. A peer-reviewed Lancet study estimated >64,000 trauma deaths by June 2024—suggesting actual figures may be even higher, especially when including indirect fatalities.
Civilians bear the brunt of the air campaign. Internal Israeli data estimates that up to 80–87% of fatalities were non-combatants—many women, children, and the elderly. Bomb damage has shattered hospitals, water and power infrastructure, and makeshift shelters, compounding the humanitarian disaster and making recovery impossible.
The bombing has triggered mass displacement—over 680,000 Gazans uprooted since March alone—and helped drive the famine into Gaza City, where half a million people now face starvation. Malnutrition-related deaths are rising alongside bomb-induced injuries, while disease outbreaks, lack of clean water, and collapsing health services are turning each injury and hunger case into a potential death.
Unless bombing slows and humanitarian access expands, death rates will likely exceed 100 daily, with all age groups increasingly vulnerable. The combination of explosive violence and starvation means Gaza is inching toward a spiral of sustained catastrophe. The situation is not only a military crisis but a full-scale human tragedy requiring immediate cessation, urgent relief, and protection under international law.