GAZA CITY, Palestine 

The Palestinian Health Ministry said Monday that 2,000 medical staff working at hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip had no meals to break their fasting with while on duty on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

"The medical personnel are too exposed to the starvation that hits the northern Gaza Strip," Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said in a statement.

He called on international relief organizations to move urgently to provide meals for the medical staff.

On Monday, Palestinians in Gaza, like most Muslims worldwide, marked the first day of Ramadan under continued Israeli bombing across the Gaza Strip, making it the toughest month for them as they suffer displacement and lack food, water and most basic items.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by the Palestinian group Hamas in which nearly 1,200 people were killed.

More than 31,100 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and over 72,700 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 27 people have died of malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza due to the Israeli blockade.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar